Jackie's Blog for The Knitting Hutch

New starts

2009-04-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

I started a couple new projects last week and I am very excited about both.

First up... I was working along on Gisela Redux at good speed and ran out of balled yarn and it was late and I didn't feel like winding it so I started another sweater. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. The project - Ann Budd's Garter Lace Jacket from Simple Style. Since the yarn I selected for this one is put up in balls why not get it on the needles ;-) I'm using Jojoland Fingering weight wool in a tan color. This will be a very light and airy sweater; perfect for Spring and Summer here in the Pacific North West. I got gauge with US7 needles and away I went.

The back is a simple garter stitch pattern so perfect mindless knitting but can't wait to see the lace form on the front pieces.

Jojoland fingering weight - Not just for socks.
Perfect for light weight sweaters and shawls too!

A tan sweater will soon join my small but growing collection of hand knitted sweaters.

Here's a picture from the book Simple Style.

Don't worry about poor Gisela. This weekend I'll wind up the reclaimed yarn this weekend and finish the back, left front and sleeves. She'll get done... trust me I can't wait to wear this one too.

Now for the really big new project announcement.

Last week I started back to work. You know that 9-5 thing that supports my knitting habit.

Currently scheduled to go through the end of November with the possibility of extending.

So what does this mean for The Knitting Hutch. Not much change really. I'll still be processing orders as quickly as possible (1-2 days). New items are still coming in and on the horizon. I probably won't be blogging and tweeting as often but will continue to keep you up to date with goings on.

Now off to name my new lacy, gartery sweater while making progress on it.

Don't forget to ....

Enjoy your knitting!

Yarn Review Thursday

2009-04-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well better late than never.

This installment of the Yarn Review will feature one of the indie sock yarn dyers I just put up in the shop. I am proud to introduce to you Yarn Lust. I've admired her hand dyed yarns for some time and some of you might be familiar with her fun stitch markers I've included in the Seasons of Habu kits. She comes from my old stomping grounds in the Bay Area of California and knew her colors would be perfect for the Pacific Coast Inspired collection of sock yarns. She is a joy to work with and look forward to our future collaborations.

Now on with the details ....

Yarn - Yarn Lust - Better Than Basics base yarn
Weight - 3 ply fingering with a tight twist
Content - 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Yardage - approx 440 yards
Unit weight - 150 g / 5.5 oz
Gauge - 6 to 8 stitches per inch
Needle Size - US0 -3 for socks
Care - Machine or Hand Wash Cold / Lay Flat to Dry
Colors available - Tiffany (shown), Green Tea Genmaicha, Tokyo Tea and Flannel PJs. Take a look at these colors.

For the sample project I selected the Tiffany (think Breakfast at Tiffany's) and went in search of a sock pattern. I first thought I'd go with a simple knit and purl pattern in a diamond design. Well that was all Fail. It looked manly and that wasn't what I was going for with this colorway. So ripped that one back to the cuff and searched through More Sensational Knitted Socks and found a really nice but simple lace.

Stems -Perfect! Not too lacy but enough for a lady's sock. Very easily memorized 6 stitch and 4 row pattern. I started by casting on 60 stitches and did a twisted 1x1 rib for the cuff for 14 rows and on with the pattern for the leg. I love how the Tiffany Blue, beige and brown spiral down the cuff and leg.
Then with a traditional heel flap and gusset the layering of colors was tighter giving another interesting effect.

Instep continued the pattern repeat giving a nice flash of colors.

Then the typical odd row decrease for the toe brings back the tight layers of colors.

My gauge with US 1's and knitting on the tight side was 8 stitches per inch.

Love the yarn, color and pattern and can't wait to finish it's mate (along with the other 2 single socks).

So I hope you enjoyed this installment of Yarn Review

and don't forget to ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

I know it's supposed to be Yarn Review Wednesday but I'll be a day late this time.

Just a quick post to wish you a Happy Earth Day.

So what am I doing for Earth Day?
I set up a soaker hosed through the front flower bed which will save water (and time) and ordered this.

Winged Weeder Jr. My sister brought hers on Sunday to use to help weed the above mentioned flower bed. Rips right through those shallow rooted weeds. This is the short handled (12") but they also have a long handled version as well. I purchased mine through Amazon - here's the Winged Weeder web site.

The weather isn't the best today so don't think I'll do any knitting in the yard but will finish up the project for the next Yarn Review tonight and promise to share tomorrow.

How are you spending Earth Day?

and as always ....

Enjoy your knitting!

Singles

2009-04-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

Just finished a couple singles this weekend.

It was an enjoyable weekend here in the PNW. Perfect weather to work in the yard, knit and visit with my sister and yummy meals. I was able to finish the 2 socks in progress!

The yarn on the left is coming soon. The pattern is Math Wiz by Anne Hanson of Knitspot Fiber Lounge. What a fun and easy pattern and went up so quickly. Perfect for a hand dyed sock yarn. Gives texture but no worry of loosing the pattern in the yarn. The lovely on the right is Dream In Color Smooshy - Gothic Rose. Love this yarn and colorway! It will arrive on Thursday or Friday but I've put it up for you to reserve yours now. If you haven't tried Dream in Color sock yarn you are in for a real treat. Smooshy is the perfect adjective. Sorry this picture doesn't show it as well as I'd like. Promise better pictures coming soon. The pattern is Queen of Cups on knitty.com. This was the perfect pattern I thought for this gothicy colorway and it's been on my to do for quite some time. Fun and a bit of a challenge.

Here's another gratuitous shot of the singles.

Not to worry they won't be single for long. I don't suffer from Second Sock Syndrome. However I do suffer from startitis so you will probably see another single wanting a mate here soon.

That's all for now.

but don't forget ....

Enjoy your knitting!

On The Needles Friday

2009-04-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

Dueling socks in process

Before I tell you about them I received a comment from Kathleen. She added to the list of reasons to love knitting socks. The Applause Factor or what I call The Wow Factor. She is so right about this. People are fascinated by the idea and process of knitting socks and you can impress them the magic of sock knitting. As she mentioned people also love getting them for gifts too. Thanks Kathleen for adding this to the list.

I have 2 socks on the needles right now. I'm using sample yarns from dyers that will be in the shop very soon and think you will love too.

The first one is from an indie dyer here in Washington state. Loving this one. Starting with the lovely sock weight yarn with a nice tight twist (the way I like it). Then the colorway blew me away with all it's tweedyness. I will be bringing in this colorway along with 3 others from this dyer in the next 2-3 weeks.
I had to restrain myself from winding it immediately into a ball just long enough to take the above picture. Then directly to the swift and ball winder it went and it became this...

Then with the needles and the perfect pattern in hand I cast on and knitted the leg of a sock.
Tonight I'll do the heel flap and gusset so it can catch up with the other sock in progress.
This one comes from a more well known dyer that is well loved and I couldn't resist bringing it in as well. The order shipped yesterday and I will have it up in the shop next weekend.

This yarn is a joy to knit with. Very squishy and perfect twist with deep color tones. Good thing I don't have a shortage of US1 16" circs for socks. I selected a pattern I've been wanting to knit for quite some times and thought worked with this colorway perfectly. I'll share the details when the yarn goes up next weekend. It is currently at the gusset decrease and moving along nicely.

So that's my current knitting projects for the weekend. Hoping the weather cooperates so I can do some yard work and knitting outside.

What's on your needles?

Enjoy your weekend and of course ...

Enjoy your knitting!

The Joy of Socks

2009-04-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

What is it that those of us crazy about knitting socks find addicting? I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here but for those that haven't jumped into the sock knitting world yet I thought I'd share my perspective.

The Yarn. You have a wide range of colors, types and content to choose from. There are the basic solid color wool, commercial multi color dyed/plyed yarns, indie hand dyed in semi-solid colors to fun and wild multi colors. Content can also range from non-superwash wool, super-wash wool, wool and nylon blends, wool and silk, wool and silver and yes even cotton.
The Techniques. As a new knitter socks can seem like an intimidating project. I think it has to do with envisioning all those crazy double pointed needles and how to keep them under control. However we're not constrained to using only dpns to knit socks. You can use 2 9" - 16" circular needles for the 2 circ method or go magic loop with a long circular. Really all it is is knitting in the round and some short rows on a small scale. You can start at the top and work down to the toe or start toe up. Bottom line is it's isn't hard and there are so many resources on-line now to learn any new techniques. My favorite examples are from knitty.com. Magic Cast on for Toe up and Kitchener stitch for sewing up the toes. Once I had these down there was no looking back
The Patterns. I can't tell you how many sock knitting books there are out there but I must have most of them in my knitting library. Then there are some really great indie designers out there with sock patterns ranging from a basic sock pattern to some very intricate patterns. It is also the perfect way to start designing. Create your favorite sock recipe mixing starting point, heel and toe style blending with the perfect stitch pattern from a stitch dictionary and voila you have your own personal sock pattern. It is also a great way to try out a new stitch pattern on a smallish project.
The Portability Factor. You can take it with you. At least to where ever you know you will be spending some time waiting. Socks are perfect travel projects since they are small and fit in your bag. I am not good at just sitting in waiting rooms with nothing to do so having a sock project to work on makes the time go faster.
The Cost. Socks are relatively inexpensive knitting projects. The yarn can range from $6.00 to $30.00+ for a pair of socks which is considerably less than yarn for a sweater or blanket. Basically, really easy to justify and classify sock yarn as non-stash yarn.
The End Result. From 400+ yards of fingering weight yarn you can produce something like this.

Are you a sock knitting addict? I know I am with 3 different socks currently in progress and 40+ skeins/balls of sock yarn waiting their turn ;-) Tomorrow I'll share 2 of them with you.

and till next time ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Too busy to ... you know

2009-04-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those crazy days here and no time for a proper blog so I'll leave you with some sock yarn pron. This is one of the new sock yarns in the hand-dyed and Pacific Coast inspired collections. Ducks in the Sky.

Promise to try and do you better tomorrow.

Don't worry I'm still allowing some knitting time in the evening.

Till then ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Let's talk about socks baby ...

2009-04-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

They're in and they are beautiful. I am so excited about bringing back into the shop a selection of sock yarns. As any sock knitter knows they make the best to go project. With spring events coming up such as baseball games, picnics, camping and so on you can't have too many socks on the needles. I have a nice selection of hand pained yarns by indie (and not so indie) dyers, in happy colors along with semi-solids. There are also solids and variegated plied yarns in a very nice price point by Jojoland Yarns. Below is just a taste of what is available and there is more on the way.

These 4 yarns are part of what call the Pacific Coast Inspired collection. Currently I have 2 indie dyers in with 12 colors with a 3rd indie on the way. The 3 dyers come from California, Oregon and Washington State and are inspired by the Pacific both East and West.

Tokyo Tea - by Yarn Lust

Green Tea Genmaicha - by Yarn Lust

Walk in a different park - by tjtunraveled

Fire in the sand - by tjtunraveled

Then to bring you some solid and multi plied yarns I've brought back one of my favorites.

Jojoland Yarns.

Now don't forget to take a look at sock needles and patterns too ;-)

Tomorrow I'll share some socks I've been getting busy with.

and as always ...

enjoy your knitting!

Two steps forward and one step back

2009-04-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend I made some progress and not so much progress.

Finished a pair of socks I knit using some sample yarn from a new indie dyer I'll be introducing you to very, very soon. Love it and more details to come when the order arrives.

Then I cast on another sock using a sample yarn from yet another yarn dyer that will be coming in a few weeks. Loving this yarn too... very much.

Oh, while we're talking indie yarn dyers and sock yarns I just received my first order with another that I'll introduce to you tomorrow. So be sure to check back in.

So there's the two steps forward and now for the one step back.

I unravelled Gisela. My gauge was off and she was toooooo small. No worries though she'll be back on the needles before you know it.

There was also some major progress on another favorite project but I'll save that for later in the week.

and don't forget ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Wednesday Yarn Review

2009-04-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today's yarn and pattern are with Mother's Day in mind. Yes, there's still time to knit something nice for Mom or any mom in your life this Mother's day. This is a quick mohair lace scarf that goes up quick and she will love. May 10th is Mother's day.

Yarn - Habu A-32B 1/12 silk mohair kusa

Weight - Lace 1/12

Content - 60% Silk / 40% Mohair

Yardage - 186 yds. per 1/2 oz

Unit weight - 50 grams (1.76 ounces)

Put up - 1/2 oz Ball

Gauge - 7.25 = 1 inch blocked
Needle size - US 3 - 4 for lace

Care - Hand Wash & Dry Flat or Dry Clean

This silk mohair blend has more silk content than the usual mohair available. It also is a more friendly mohair to work with. I've knit with mohair that was so grabby that it was impossible to frog or even tink back a few rows. I used my Colonial Rosewood US3 to get the gauge mentioned above.

Pattern - Habu Feather and Fan Lace Scarf

I thought that this would be the perfect pattern for those not familiar with mohair since it the lace pattern is only on 1 of the 4 row repeat. I took 2 colors of this mohair to mix it up a bit. I used a web die roll program to get a random number between 2 and 12 to determine the number of repeats for each color. Then kept knitting until I got the length I wanted. It blocked out to 5.25" wide and 56" long and there was still plenty left so you could easily widen and lengthen with only 1 oz of this yarn.

The Kit

This is an easy one. Purchase 2 balls of the A-32b Silk Mohair Kusa and I'll include the pattern for the scarf (or email you the pdf). Select 2 of the same color or mix it up like I did with 2 coordinating colors. Have fun with it.

and as always ...
Enjoy your knitting!

Italian Quake and knitting

2009-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

My thoughts and prayers are with those effected by yesterday's quake and remaining aftershocks in central Italy. The loss of life and devastation is just heart wrenching and my heart goes out to them. I was raised and lived most of my life in the SF Bay Area and experienced the impact of the '89 Loma Prieta quake so know a little what they must be going through. Jumping at the least, little aftershock while picking up all the pieces (literally and figuratively). Never being able to look at freeway overpasses the same again.

Someone on Ravelry posted a link to a news article about a 98 year old grandmother who was buried in her home for 30 hours and passed the time by knitting. I think I know one of her secret to longevity. She deals with stress extremely well is all I can say. I would have been pacing the floor and unable to knit 1 stitch. Bravisimo, Maria D'Antuono!!!

Let's take some time out today and send good thougths and prayers while we take up our needles tonight.

Tomorrow, back to our bi-weekly yarn review post.

and as always ....

Enjoy your knitting!

Not much new... yet

2009-04-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

I worked on the project for this week's featured yarn, pattern and kit review. Here's a peek at the progress so far. Need to do some focused knitting tonight so I can wash and block tomorrow.
This Habu silk mohair is a real joy to work with, compared to most mohair. I've had to tink back a few times and no swearing ensued ;-)
You will be seeing some new and exciting things coming into the shop in the upcoming weeks and months. There will be various types of sock yarn, patterns and books. Oh, and I put in my second order for The Knit Kit so it's available for pre-ordering again.

Well, that's all for today as I am waiting for UPS to deliver some Habu.

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Off again, On again

2009-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

Project off the needles always means projects on the needles.

Last night I finished and cast off the other side of the Seasons of Habu Summer Shell Top.
I really, really need to get busy naming this pattern (any suggestions)?
This project showed me that I can take multi-tasking way too far. This is a really quick knit and it would have been completed last week had I not tried TV, Twitter, email and knitting all at the same time. Anyways, it's all knitted up and just needs the second piece washed and blocked before a little sewing up.

So since a project was off the needles I had to start another one. Here is just a little peek.

This will be next Wednesday's Yarn review and project discussion here. I'm planning on it being a perfect project for Mother's Day. You know it'll be here before we know it.

Then I had to do a little 'research' knitting for some yarn I'm planning on bringing into the shop very soon. Hope to be able to share more about this in the next few weeks. In the meantime here's a peek.
Now off to do some weaving, washing, blocking, knitting ....

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming

2009-03-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

I know it's Wednesday and there's supposed to be a yarn review going on here.
Well, honestly with finishing up some of the details of the Summer Seasons of Habu I ran out of time for a yarn review. I promise it will return next week.

Registration for the Seasons of Habu Summer kit will open on Monday, April 6th.

I've shared a little about this project but here's a recap and details.

Theme: Cool Summer Drink
Yarn: Habu's Tsumugi Silk and Silk Stainless Steel. You will receive 2 cones (2 oz) of Tsumugi Silk either in a green (kiwi daiquiri) or yellow (margarita) color and 2 cones of Silk Stainless Steel in white. retail value $76.40
Project: Breezy summer shell style top. Pattern designed by myself and included in kit. This is perfect to wear over a cotton (or silk) tank or camisole top.
Goodies: As always a surprise.
Price: $80.00 plus shipping

This is the 3rd of 4 kits for the Seasons of Habu series and there will be a limited quantity available.

I will be finishing up the back piece and putting together this weekend. More pictures of completed project next week.

That's all for now.

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting!

What's on the way

2009-03-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Jojoland is coming back to The Knitting Hutch. I am so pleased to share that I will be carrying sock yarn by Jojoland Yarns. This will include all of the solid color yarns as well as their amazing variegated yarns. I've carried their yarns in my shop before and still have some of the non-superwashed solids in stock.

My favorite is Spring Garden. The variegated yarns by Jojoland are softly blended and plied colors.

I knit a pair of the Embossed Leaves socks with this colorway and absolutely love how they turned out.

a little more close-up shot.
Jojoland is a great everyday sock yarn at an everyday price point that turns out amazing socks or sweaters. Can't wait to share when the new shipment arrives.

More sock yarn news... I have some very exciting plans to bring in hand dyed sock yarns inspired by the Pacific Coast both East and West. Keep checking back for details on this new line.

What is your favorite sock yarn?

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting!

On The Needles Friday

2009-03-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

OTNF

This is what I hope will be a regular blog installment to share what I have on the needles ( and should have on the needles). Basically my weekend knitting plans.

First up are 2 projects that I am actively working on. I've already introduced you to the tank style top I am working on for the Summer Seasons of Habu kit. The front is knit, washed and blocked. The other night I cast on for the other piece which I need to focus on and finish early next week. Then the cones of Habu Wool and Silk blend in a light fingering weight were screaming at me to knit them. So I obeyed and started a shawl pattern from Anne Hanson of Knitspot. This will be a featured yarn, pattern and kit of the week very soon.

Here's the backside of this project. I love how soft and delicious this wool/silk blend from Habu is. Yes I appear to be in my green mood right now.

Next up are a couple projects that need more On The Needle time. The Copper Vintage Cowl sweater was going along well until I started to put it together. The sleeves weren't quite right. I was going to make it work as Tim Gunn would say but I got a PM on Ravelry from the person who rewrote this pattern alerting me to a slight errata. Love Ravelry! So I need to put in a few hours and reknit the sleeves and get this together.

Yes, another sweater that needs more intensive OTN as in entirely reknit. Actually it turned out great if you ignore the fact that it doesn't fit me. So a froggy will come a courtin and back to knitting this up again a size (or 2) larger.

So there's my weekend knitting plans. What's on your needles.

Have a wonderful weekend

and ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Thursday Randomness

2009-03-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of the blocking of the Seasons of Habu Summer project. We start off with something looking like a drenched critter. Seriously since this is silk it does need some gentle treatment while wet. Wet silk is fragile and you want to give it support while pulling it out of it's bath. I used our drying towel to pull out most of the water before blocking.

Of course every job requires a supervisor and I have mine. Meet Ophilia (FiFi) my tuxedo kitty.
The Blockit blocking wires make this an easy and efficient process. I only use 14 T pins and the edges are very straight.

She is actually waiting for this to be over with so she can claim her piece of sunshine.

Finally, the front (or back) is dry and I couldn't wait to drape this on the dress form to see how it will hang. Love it! Blocked out at 22" across and 19.5" from collar to hem.

Here is a closeup of the simple but lovely rolled edge at the neckline.

Last night I cast on for the matching piece and can't wait to see this put together.

Have a random Thursday

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Wednesday Yarn Review

2009-03-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

I hope you don't mind but this will be a combination of yarn review and project wrap up and apologize if this is a little rehash from the project progress of the past month but I think you'll like it as much as I do.

Yarn - Maggi's Linen

color shown Natural - many others available

This is a different type of yarn in that it is 3 single 2 ply yarns carried together.

DK weight
52% Cotton, 48% Linen
Yardage: 126 yards (115 meters)
Unit weight: 50 grams (1.76 ounces) put up - ball
Gauge 18.0 = 4 inches
Needle size US 6 - 8 or 4 - 5mm
Care: Hand Wash & Dry Flat or Dry Clean

Above is a picture from my project (Alcala Shawl) knit on US 9 / 5.5 mm to get guage.
It is a very nice, soft yarn to knit with and I didn't find the 3 strands carried to not be a problem.
You may want to experiment with various needle material (wood/metal/plastic) and tip type (blunt/very pointy) to find what works for you. I used Colonial Rosewood which have a moderate pointy needle tip and didn't have a problem with stray strands. That said I am pretty used to carrying a couple yarns together while knitting.

Pattern selected

Maggi's Alcala Shawl from The Gathered Look
Cover project

I looked through several of Maggi's books to find a pattern that is fairly simple for the begining knitter but still has a little something to keep the more experienced knitter interested. It was also important that the project featured the linen yarn and not compete with other yarns.

So I thought the Alcala shawl was the perfect choice. I think it really shows this yarn to it's best by mixing plain knitting with texture and interesting surface detail. Now, I did something I normally don't do and used the color used in the book since I wanted the yarn to speak for this one but any of the colors would look amazing in this pattern.

I love how this turned out and know it will be a favorite through Spring and Summer.

This is a typical Maggi design that anyone can wear with confidence and a little attitude ;-)

Hope you like it too.

The Kit

Since this isn't offered as a single pattern but in a collection in the book here's what I'm doing.

10% off the book The Gathered Look and 10% off Maggi's Linen yarns.
Hope you enjoyed this installment of yarn review with The Knitting Hutch.

On Friday I'll share what project(s) are currently On The Needles.

and as always ...

Enjoy your knitting.

Build you own Kusha Kusha

2009-03-24T15:02:00.001-07:00

Seems like I can't keep the Kusha Kusha kits in stock in enough of the color combos I thought a 'Build Your Own' kit would be fun.

The Kusha Kusha Scarf and Shawl kits are our best selling kits from Habu and they are a lot of fun to make and wear. Believe me you will get compliments on this project.
The challenge was the ability to offer my customers a wide variety of color combinations to choose from. The Silk Stainless Steel A-20/21 comes in 7 color options.

and the Merino Wool A-177 comes in 20 colors which means many, many options to combine to make the Kusha Kusha in. (color below is 45 Tera Cotta)

So now you can select what Silk Stainless Steel color you'd like to combine with the Soft Merino Wool and I'll include the appropriate pattern.

You want the scarf then select 1 oz of the A-20/21 Silk Stainless Steel and 1 oz of the A-177 Merino wool.

Want the Shawl then select 4 oz of the A-20/21 Silk Stainless Steel and 3 oz of the A-177 Merino Wool.

I'm trying to pick my combos and get one started.

Check back tomorrow for the Featured Yarn and Pattern feature.

and ....

Enjoy your knitting!

Happy Vernal Equinox

2009-03-20T14:13:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrate the Vernal Equinox (Equal Night), the first day of Spring.

The the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes. People have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. How are you observing the Vernal Equinox?

I'm celebrating the Vernal Equinox by planning for the Summer Solstice. Yep, I'm a season ahead but it's all good. Creating the project for the next Seasons of Habu kit for Summer is so much fun and coming along very nicely. Actually, I started on St. Paddy's Day by knitting a swatch for the pattern. Then after calculations and determining the bottom edging I cast on the project and here's a preview. It will be a shell style top with a purl border at the bottom and a simple, but pretty stitch pattern going up. Here's a preview of where I am right now (1/3 up the front).

You probably noticed that I am using 2 cones of Habu yarn and I've devised a clever device for allowing me to neatly pull off the cones as I knit. It's a bread basket from Target (a few years ago), a length of bamboo or wooden dowel, washers and pretty drawer pulls. Here's a little close-up.

Close-up of the unblocked piece in progress.

Close-up of it blocked out just a little to show the pattern.

Finally, I will be putting this in the Seasons of Habu department of the shop for registrations on April 1st. Can't wait to get back to working on this tonight and then to get this done to show you the completed project for this kit.

Have a great weekend and ...

Enjoy your knitting!

Wednesday Yarn Review

2009-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun, and helpful, to start a regular feature reviewing a yarn from our collection. As much as we love seeing yarns in hanks, skeins or balls it is hard sometimes to imagine what it will look like after it's knitted up. This is especially true for variegated yarns.
Having a swatch of the yarn knitted with the recommeded needle size and to guage if given really helps.

So begins what will be a weekly or bi-weekly feature on my blog. I will select a yarn, knit a swatch and select an appropriate pattern giving you details about the yarn, needle used, gauge and process I used to select the pattern. Then will put together a kit pairing the yarn and pattern. Hope you find this helpful.

Yarn - Habu Kasuri Silk Tweed A-164

This is a 1 ply / 5 wpi
heavy lace to light fingering weight
100% silk yarn Hand Dyed
Recommended needle size US2-4 / 2.75mm-3.5mm

So off I went to knit a swatch ...

This has a nice soft hand with a very organic, nubby look. Very lovely to knit with a cotton like feel.

Swatched
I tend to knit a little tight and usually have to go up a needle size to get gauge so for this I split the difference on recommended size and selected a US3. Very happy with the stitch definition and drape with this size and gauge.

Needles US 3 - I used Colonial Rosewood
Gauge 6.5 stitches p/inch and 9.5 rows p/inch

Pattern selected

Ostrich Plumes Stole and Scarf by Anne Hanson of Knitspot Fiber Lounge

I knew when I first saw the colors of this yarn that it called for a bird inspired pattern.
Love Anne's designs and this color just called to be an ostrich. The others could be a parrot, toucan, bluebird, dove or any other feathered friend.

Here's the closeup
The short color runs show nicely in this pattern.

The Kit
I am offering the Ostrich Plume Kit in the stole or scarf sizes with your choice of the 5 colors available.

I really enjoyed putting this together and hope to make this a weekly feature or at the least bi-weekly so keep checking back.

On Friday there will be a sneak peek of the Seasons of Habu Summer project.

and as always

Enjoy your knitting!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Some yummy green yarn for St Paddy's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I thought I'd share a knitting related Irish Proverb.

If the knitter is weary the baby will have no new bonnet. ~Irish Proverb

Knit with the green today. I'll be working on a new project in green today which I'll share on Friday. For a preview it's the one in the lower right corner of the picture above.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the Wednesday Yarn/Swatch/Project review.

Enjoy your knitting!

Sunday's Quote

2009-03-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

I know some of us are still trying to recover from losing an hour last weekend so here's a quote to live by.

The innocent sleep,Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care...
~William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a genius!

Enjoy your knitting

At the top of the castle stairs

2009-03-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Alcala Shawl is coming along very nicely and as I said above I am at the top of the stairs and getting ready to step down the other side. Should have the 'back' steps done this weekend (hopefully). Then onto cutting and placing the remaining fringe pieces. Don't forget to check out the Maggi Jackson Yarns and Books in the shop.

I was curious what the word Alcala came from and what it means so I did a little Goggleing. Alcala is a Spanish place name and comes from the Arabic word for 'The Castle'.
If you wikipedia the word you will find there are many towns and villages beginning with Alcala such as Alcala de Rio you see it is a town in Seville, Spain. I also found there are a few Spanish restaurants named Alcala.

Enjoy your knitting this weekend, see ya Sunday with another blog.

Yarn Pron Thursday

2009-03-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I was taking some pictures today and couldn't help myself.

This is the new group shot of the Habu A-113 Silk Wool 3/15.
It is a 1 oz (155 yds.) blend (70% wool, 30% silk) of yumminess on a cone.
There are 4 rich colors to choose from Green, Brown, Dark Blue Green and Black.
The silk gives a sheen giving the illusion of metal. 2 Cones would do a small, lacy scarf.

So much to knit, so little time. Happy Thursday all!

Oh, the places you'll go!

2009-03-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Theodore Geisel. I have always loved Dr. Seuss, The Grinch is still my fav Christmas story. Thought this was appropriate for today's trip to Sacramento.

I am on my way to Sacramento this afternoon and will be out of the shop until next Wednesday.

All orders received March 2nd through March 14th will be shipped USPS Priority Mail on Wednesday March 15th. Oh, and to ease the pain of waiting there is Free Shipping on all US Domestic orders $40.00.

Still available during this time to respond to emails, and will be on Ravelry and Twitter.

Might be blogging as well so keep checking back. I am taking the Maggi Knits Alcala shawl as well as 2 sock projects to keep me busy.

Now I will leave you with a lovely quote by Dr. Seuss.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.

~ Dr. Seuss

Friday confessional

2009-02-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll fess up. I still haven't completed the finishing on the Vintage Copper Cowl Neck Sweater yet. I will set aside at least an hour to it today/tonight, promise. Just couldn't help myself. See the shipment of Maggi's yarns and books arrived and had to start one of the projects immediately.

The yarn is her Maggi's Linen which is a yummy light worsted weight 48% Linen 52% Cotton blend. The put up is a 126 yard ball and comes in neutrals and very nice colors of which I selected the Natural 01.

The picture below shows that instead of being a fully plied yarn it contains three separate plies wound together. You work with this as you work any project where you are carrying several yarns together. It really is nice to work with and has a very nice, light feel. Perfect for a Summer project.

Such as the cover project in book 15 The Gathered Look. This is the Alcala Shawl. It is a typical Maggi design with multi tiers and fringe. I love it and know it will be perfect for cool Summer evenings here in the Pacific North West.

Here it is on the needles. Colonial Rosewood US 9's to be specific which give the perfect amount of drag for this yarn. I, per usual, had to go up one full needle size to get gauge but I was excited that I got gauge, both stitch and row, with this size. Yep, a slightly tight knitter here.

I also decided it might be a really good idea to attach the fringe as I finish each section so I'm not left doing all of them at the end.

Don't forget I am offering Free Shipping as this weeks special. Good on orders $40.00 and over within the US. All orders are shipped USPS Priority Mail.

Speaking of shipping. I will be on holiday starting Monday March 2nd through Tuesday March 10th. All orders received during this time will be shipped on Wednesday March 11th.

Now back to finishing a project ;-)

What will you be working on this weekend?

The other side of the coin

2009-02-25T15:58:00.001-08:00

Wanted to share a quick project update on the Vintage Copper Cowl Neck Sweater.
I finished knitting the 1x1 ribbed sash which completed the knitting portion of the project.
Next step is 'sewing' the pieces together. Notice the crochet hook. Yes, instead of using a traditional mattress or back stitch seam I am using a single crochet stitch to 'sew' all of the seams. This is my method of choice for a light weight yarn like this Habu Kasuki Zome Silk.
I love the surged looking seam it give and since you finish the project by doing a single crochet edging around the neck line and sleeve edges it works for me.

Above is a closeup of a shoulder seam. This baby will be finished tonight and ready to wash and block tomorrow.

I am hoping to finish up the seaming and edging early enough to start my next project and share it with you in the next day or 2.

Enjoy and Knit On!

Model Monday

2009-02-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

It came!!! The dress model arrived today and couldn't wait to put it to work. Very easy to put together, adjust the height, and it is pinnable. Perfect for draping or putting up pieces before sewing together. Don't know why I didn't get one of these sooner. Hmmm, maybe a foot/leg for is needed for socks?

Looky what I found in my WIP bin. A Maggi Jackson project from Stitches West 07. Yes, 2 years ago. A friend introduced me to her designs and instantly fell in love with them. Then I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take a class at SW where she taught several of her techniques for combining her yarns in a signature MJ modular scarf. For whatever reason this made it's way to the bottom of the WIP queue. Well it's back out and in the current rotation of current projects. At the same time I knew I wanted to carry Maggi's yarns and books in the shop. I started to and even received a partial shipment of my first order from the distributor. Well I never received the remainder and other things happend and carrying her yarns also moved down the list. Well a few weeks ago I received a call from Maggi's husband letting me know that she is now distributing her yarns and books directly. I knew this was the perfect chance to make the move and bring Maggi's yarns back to The Knitting Hutch and I placed an order. You can find the yarns here and books here and I will be expanding the selection throughout the year.

Knit on!

Penny for your thoughts

2009-02-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

... and appropriately Happy President's day.
I love this sweater's simple design and eyelet detailing which is continued on the sleves. I am using the recommended yarn which is unusual. Habu's Kasuki Zome silk in color 26 Suo which is dead on match to a new copper penny.

This and another couple sweaters attracted me to this newer book ~ A Stitch In Time. It is the 2nd rewrite of vintage English patterns from 1920 through 1949. It is a hefty book that includes the original pattern, brief fashion note of the time and the updated version of the pattern. This book can be purchased at
http://shop.knitonthenet.com/

This is a quick knit in stocking stitch and should finish the front tonight.

There is also a Ravelry group for this book that is very helpful.

The Magically Mobieus Cowl is finished and blocked. Yes, I blocked a mobieus? Well it wasn't easy but felt the lace needed to be pulled out so I blocked as much as I could and left the crossover area as it was. I am happy with the way it turned out. Perfect diameter but if I were to do it over I would have done at least 1 or 2 more repeats to increase the width allowing me to pull it over my head if needed. I think it was the perfect pattern for this skein of Schaefer Anne.

Seasons of Habu - Spring 09. Just received the last of the goodies for the kit over the weekend. Now I am putting the kits together.... very fun. I also finished editing the pattern, printing and stuffing them into page protectors. I am so excited about this kit and can't wait to send them out on March 2nd. There are 6 kits left in the shop.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day

Proof is in the vest

2009-02-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's proof that I actually finished the Simply Van Gogh vest.I am not a vest person but this might change my mind about that. This project actually changed my mind on a few things.

Such as... Garter is beautiful and 3 needle bind of on the right side is cool.

Love it! It's already been worn to knitting night on Monday.

Worked on the Magically Lacy Wrap but will wait to post pics when it's done.

Twittering ~ I've joined the Twitter world. How fun is this. You not only put up quick posts (tweets) with what you're doing but you can follow your favorite people. I currently am following my fav political pundits, politicians as well as knitting friends. You can find me on twitter here.

Blondechick turned me on to fabric slipper patterns/tutorials at Sew,Mama,Sew's blog.

Aren't these the cutest flip flops/thongs? You can find a really good tutorial for these on LadyHarvatine's blog

Just wish that all my sewing stuff wasn't buried in the storage unit.

Might have to get some fat squares and go down to my sisters and have a sewing day.

For tonight there will be more knitting on the magically lacy wrap and some yummy pasta for dinner.

Knitting Time

2009-02-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, there is still some knitting going on here.

First up - Iggy Pop Socks
Love this color way from The Woolen Rabbit.
and this merino/nylon blend is really nice to knit with.

Stats: Cross-stitch block by Charlene Schurch using US 1
2 circs at a time, cuff down. This is a different type of cable design which is fun but not too demanding since it only happens on every 14th round. Not working on these full time like I usually do but have these as my traveling project.

This is my primary project right now ....

Magically Lace Wrap. This is based on Cat Bordhi's Treasury of Magical Knitting (White Lace Shoulder Wrap). I've forgotten how addicting mobieus knitting can be. I am using a good sized skein of Schaefer Anne yarn which is typically used for socks. Looked a little fuzzy for my sock taste so I knew it would be a perfect cowl/scarf/wrap. Depending on how much is left after the pattern defined repeats I might add a lacy border on this. Oh, I'm using US 6 Denise Interchangeable needles with a really long cable.

I am also working on the pattern for the Summer Seasons of Habu but will wait to share that until I have it further along.

In the shop ...

Did some cosmetic type updates and pictures. Yesterday added the Habu shipment of Kusaki Zome silk, Kakisbui cotton and restock of the Stainless Steel Silk in Violet.

Busy Monday

2009-02-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Lookie what I ordered last Friday. A French, Pinnable Dress Form. This will be perfect for modeling items for the shop as well as my personal projects. Found this on ebay of course.

Can't wait for this to get here so I can take proper pictures of some projects.

Tomorrow I'll share some of my current projects.

New in the shop ...

Each week I will be featuring a collection from the shop and putting them 15% off. Weekly specials will run Sunday through Saturday. This weeks special is the Accessories collection. All accessories are 15% off this week (excludes knitting needles).

I will post every Friday or Saturday the upcoming special.

Finally got Habu Silk Stainless Steel in Violet. However, they are the 1/2 oz cones instead of the full 1 oz I usually carry. Oh well, all colors are in stock! Also in are more colors of the Kasuki Zome silk and Kakishbu Cotton. On the way are all colors of the Habu merino wool used for the Kusha Kusha Scarf and Shawl projects.

Simply Van Gogh

2009-02-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

I am humming along on this project from Folk Shawls.
Amazing how the humble garter stitch can look so amazing.

Here's the details ~

Pattern: Simply Garter by Cheryl Oberle in Folk Vests
Yarn: Jojoland Rhythm (worsted weight) color m24 Sunflowers
Needles: US 8

The yarn is very nice to work with and a very good price point. It isn't a highly refined yarn but I love the more organic texture of this one. It is a variegated yarn but instead of being hand painted it is plyed with different colors and they melt together nicely. Not unlike Noro.

Yes, I am working on getting this yarn back in the shop along with the fingering weights from Jojoland.

Now back to finishing up the purchase order with Jojo and updating the website ...

oh and hope to finish this project tomorrow night. Just have a few more rows of the right front and finishing on the collar and armholes.

Head in the clouds

2009-02-02T14:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, this is going to start out a little bit techy today but that's where my head is right now. So feel free to skip ahead if this isn't your cup of tea.

There is more and more talk about Cloud Computing lately and here's an interesting article on the Google/Apple Cloud convergence. I went searching for a high level overview of what this Cloud Computing is all about and found this article. Basically this is a way of serving software from a centralized, network server rather than installing it on the end users desktop or laptop;

ie. reading your Yahoo email through the Internet on Yahoo's website instead of MS Outlook running on your laptop. Love it when the computing industry comes up with these clever names for things that have been around for a while. This is really not much more than the basic 3-tier architecture software. For the past 10 years I've been administering and developing Remedy applications in this manner. Tier 1 is server side which 'serves' the application/database and so on, Tier 2 (middle tier) is the web interface allowing Tier 3 (End User) access to the files/data through the Internet. By doing this you reduce the footprint of the end user's desktop/laptop by offloading off of the user to the server. Ok, actually this is like going way back to the olden days when you just had a dumb terminal and keyboard connected to the mainframe. So, what's old is new again.

I've also been going through a PHP tutorial today which is fun. I've been stuck back in .asp too long. Next up, Web 2.0 and Jquery.

Now for the knitting content of my blog...

I am working on the Simple Garter vest from Folk Vests. This is another wonderful knitting book by Cheryl Oberle. I've named this one Simply Van Gogh since the way the variegated Jojoland Rhythm yarn is working up reminds me of a Van Gogh painting (see pic at the top of this post). This was a perfectly mindless knitting project for working on while watching the Super Bowl ads and half time show. As a side note here my 2 fave ads were the Fetching Bud Horse and the Love Sick Circus Bud Horse. I'll catch you up on my current sock in progress tomorrow.

News from The Knitting Hutch ...

Last week I received a very nice phone call from Mike at Maggi Knits. Maggi Jackson is an amazing knitwear designer from Ireland with a wonderful collection of yarns. Last year I attempted to carry her items in the shop but it was not an easy feat with the distributor at the time. Well I was very happy to hear that Maggi is distributing her yarns and books directly here in the US. So, I will be bringing these back in the shop very soon. In the meantime I do have some of her linen/cotton blend, mist slub and rag in stock so take a look.

Enjoy and knit on!

Totally Zenned

2009-01-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Zenning Along...

Since I'm sitting here laid off (again), searching the job sites, applying for the few positions that fit my technical skills. This seems like the perfect time to focus my efforts on upgrading and adding features to the Knitting Hutch site and shopping cart.

I've spent most of the day reading the ZenCart forums. Thinking I should upgrade to the current version I noticed a thread discussing the Beta version 2.0 due to be released soon.

Before I knew it I had spent most of the morning reading this one thread and deciding I'm going to hang back and see what this version brings. I'm still on a supported version only 1 patch level back. So now I'll focus on addressing some nagging issues such as product attributes not working all of a sudden and International shipping through USPS not working as expected. Well, enough of that tech stuff I guess.

New fun stuff in the shop ...

There is a new (and very cool) knitting tool coming very soon. It's the knitter's equivalent of the Swiss Army Knife. They are called The Knit Kit and will be $19.95.

I've ordered 10 of these and they are scheduled to arrive mid-March. They are available for pre-order and I am including a package of 2 Bates 2" yarn needles that should fit nicely in the compartment.

There is a shipment, or more accurately several shipments, on the way from Habu.

I've ordered 1 oz cones of A-177 Soft Merino wool in all available colors. This is the same feltable, lace wool used in the Kusha Kusha Scarf, Shawl and Jacket kits. Oh, and I'm keeping the Kusha Kusha scarf and shawl kits at the 2008 price.

So is there any knitting going on here? ...

Oh yes, and you'll be shocked that there's only 1 pair of socks in the 4 latest projects.

But that will have to wait until Monday.

Knit on, and have a wonderful weekend. I'll be knitting while the Super Bowl is on. Have to see the commercials and half time show you know.

Socks, Socks, Socks

2009-01-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

I love knitting socks... actually I am addicted to knitting socks.

Currently I've knitted 25 pairs of socks and number 26 is on the needles.

In my sock yarn stash are 36 skeins just waiting to become socks and that doesn't count the 'left overs' that can be combined to make another 12 pair.

I also love books and patterns for knitting socks. I haven't counted those lately but probably 6-8 books and at least 2 dozen individual patterns. Oh, and 3 sock knitting books in my Amazon wish list.

While I'm confessing my love for knitting socks I'll also confess that all of them (save 1 pair) are for me. Below are pictures of my more recent socks that I haven't shared yet.

Christmas Chocolate Cherry

Claudia Hand Painted: Chocolate Cherry

Pattern: Crosshatch Lace by Charlene Schurch
Needles: 2 circs US 1

High Fidelity Pennant Socks

White Oak Studio tvyarn sock: High Fidelity
Pattern: Pennant Stitch by Charlene Schurch

Needles: 2 circs US 0

A Dark and Stormy Sock

Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Stormy Weather

Pattern: Traveling Vine by Charlene Schurch
Needles: 2 circs US 1

Blue Red Dwarf Socks

Artyarns Supermerino: Blue 162

Pattern: Red Dwarf Socks by Cristi H. Brockway
Needles: 2 circs US 2

Note: These I did as my recovering from a broken wrist project and did 2 at the same time on 2 circs to ensure I had the same gauge on both socks as I recovered.

Raveny socks

Blue Moon Fiber Arts: Raven series (Grock)

Pattern: Reverse Stockinette-Stitch Chevrons by Charlene Schurch

Needles: 2 circs US 1

Note: These were made as a Christmas present for my sister and the only socks not for me to date.

Alki Sailor's Delight
Hazel Knits Artisan Sock: Alki Reflections

Pattern: Sailor's Delight by Melissa Morgan-Oakes
Needles: 2 circs US 1

Current socks On The Needles -

Jojoland Melody: purple and greens

Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt

Needles: 2 circs US 1

I think that's enough sharing about my addictions to the knitting of socks and don't worry I am knitting other items as well which I'll share latter.

Knit on all

2009 and I'm back blogging

2009-01-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, a new year and again much to be thankful for and to look forward to.

As you might remember last February I was laid-off from my job in CA and moved to WA state in May and remained unemployed. That was until the beginning of September when I landed a 3 month consulting gig that I enjoyed. Then on December 8th I went and tripped and fell breaking my right wrist. I did this little trick exactly 3 years ago on December 5th of 2005 only that time I did both wrists. Well since this is the 2nd time around and I have Osteopenia the doctor recommended surgery. On the 15th of December I had surgery to put in a steel plate to keep it in line, so to speak. The first 3 days after the break and surgery were the worst and I discovered I really don't like pain meds but you do what you need to do to get through it.
I tell you it also sucked big time not being able to knit for 3 weeks. I was in the middle of a sock knitting frenzy and had plans to design the scarf for the Seasons of Habu Spring kit. Fortunately the surgery and steel plate means much faster healing time and I was able to get back to the needles on Christmas Eve. Yea!!!

Here's a post surgery picture.

There is more to share but I'll spread it out over the rest of the week.

On to news from The Knitting Hutch ...

Registration for the next installment of the Seasons of Habu - Spring 2009 is open.
Sign up by the 14 and receive 10% off ($45.00 / $50.00 reg.)
This kit will feature a lace weight cashmere yarn from Habu Textiles,
a lace scarf pattern that I've designed to reflect the theme (Spring Garden),
and several fun and useful swag items.

The pattern is a beginning to intermediate lace design with rest rows on the wrong side. Stitches used are k, p, yo, ssk, k2tog. s1 k2tog psso.
It will also allow you to choose your own width and length by changing the number of repeats for the width. I am enjoying knitting this and know you will too.

Click on the picture to check out the details and schedule.

See ya tomorrow

Lots of catching up here

2008-08-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been nearly a month since I posted! This leaves a lot to fill you in on here.

There has been a whole lot of knitting, filling the shop and of course job searching going on here.

Let's start with the knitting ...

Olympic knitting

I started the Seasons of Habu Winter 08 project during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.
Good thing this is a fairly easy stitch patterned project as the ceremonies were incredible!
I wanted to do this project as soon as I received the supplies so I had a clear idea of the available yardage for this project and let me tell you there will be plenty of yardage on this one. Loved this and know those registering for this seasons club kit will too. You can find out more info and when sign-ups begin on the Seasons of Habu - Winter 2008 page.

Highland knitting - After blocking the above project I felt I needed to appease the WIP gods and finish up a project already started. I picked up the Highland Triangle Shawl (Scotland) from Folk Shawls and quickly finished this one up. Ok, so I just had to finish up the inner border and knitted on edging. In 3 nights I had this one done and blocking and was able to wear it to the county fair (more on that below). I love this book and have knit 5 of the 25 and know I will be doing more. Yes, I still need to finish the Kimono shawl still. Oh, and I used 5 balls of Frog Tree Alpaca fingering weight in color 007 soft brown with size US 5 needles. This will be one of my 'everyday' shawls.
Hav u Habu? - Next up was another Habu Linen and Silk Shoulder Bag. This one is in the Charcoal color using the A-60 Linen paper yarn combined with A-1 Tsumugi Silk (beautiful combo) with a US 4 needle to create a tight fabric. The 2 colors work so well together and the linen paper gives an iridescent blue black which is amazing. This morning I went to the fabric store and found a very nice Asian inspired cotton fabric to line this one. Oh, and yes there are some of these kits in the store.

FLS KAL Anyone? Ok, I succumbed to the February Lady Sweater Knit-along going on in my local knitting group and on Ravalry. I've been wanting to make this one since I saw it on Rav and queued it up immediately. Then Barb wore hers to the Fair on Friday and I had to get on this one. I had some JoJoland fingering weight wool in my stash that was used for the beginning of a shawl that I wasn't in love with and knew it would be perfect for this. The color here is a bit off as it is more of a rich burgundy red and less Coke can red. I cast this on using US8s on Monday with the yarn doubled to get just under worsted weight and am nearly 2/3 through the yoke. This will be a great sweater for Fall... now to find the perfect antique buttons for this.

Where's Sea Tangles? This one isn't dead, don't worry. I just had to put it on hold until I got in more Stainless Steel Silk from Habu for the shop. Well I did but it seems to be going out faster than I can get it in. I still have some left and have my next order ready to go next week. Please email me if you'd like to know what I have or reserve yours from the next order.

'Our County Fair is a Great County Fair..." oh well, you know what I mean.

I entered 6 projects in different categories in the fair this year. Well, this is the first time ever that I've entered anything into the fair, city girl here. This was really fun preparing the items and then seeing how they did. Last Friday I went to the fair on the 2nd day with my mom to check the fair and demonstrate lace knitting and of course see how my babies did. Well I am proud to say all 6 won 1st place blue ribbons and 3 also won class runner up ribbons. Here are a few pictures of the entries.

Are You Wired? Just in yesterday a restock of the Blockit from TIP. I swear I can't block a sweater or shawl without this and know you will love how it makes blocking so much easier. You can find it in our Accessories department.

Ode to the cable needle

2008-07-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ok I really don't use cable needles very often but when you need them boy do you need them.
I know some are able to do cables without any type of holding device and I would agree that this is fine for wool, alpaca and other non slippery yarns but not for silk. When I started Sea Tangles I looked all over for my favorite cable needles but couldn't find them anywhere. Then I remembered I gave them to a friend who was a new knitter and working on her first cabled project. So off I went in search of a cable needle since I don't carry these in my online shop (yet).
First I went to Fred Myers to check their small yarn section, nothing. Then with 30 minutes to spare I went down to JoAnn's before they closed on Sunday. They had one but not my preferred style of cable needle. I was stuck so I took it anyways. I plodded through with this cable needle for over 50 rows of my project but still wasn't happy with it. So yesterday I while running some errands I found a hobby shop that looked like it would have a decent sized yarn section. Yep, it did stuck back in the furthest corner. (why do all hobby stores shove knitting to the back? Then I found it... my favorite type of cable needle!

There are 2 common types of cable needles. Fish hook (left) and straight with a bump (right).
The straight is ok in a pinch but I really am much happier with the fish hook style. For me it feels more secure holding the stitches in the crook nicely with the balance and gravity holding it from shifting around trying to lose your stitches.

The other really nice 'feature' of the fish hook style is hangs nicely on the side of your knitting basket while not in use. I've decided to order these for the shop and include one in each order of the Habu Stainless Silk order for those using it for Sea Tangles.

So what is your preferred style of cable needle? Fish hook or straight with bump?

Last Nights Knitting - Well as you can probably tell from this picture not much knitting last night. 6 rows to be exact. I was working on the website, answering emails and of course watching Project Runway. Well hopefully better progress will be made tonight.

As promised pictures of the completed Trekking King Charles Brocade socks.
I'm excited about entering these and a few other projects in the fair next month.
Anyone else planning on entering their projects in their county fair?

Oh, and a shipment from Habu arrived this morning! Already up on the site and going out the door so take a look > theknittinghutch.com There's another shipment on it's way and should be here next week but this is part of my order for the Winter Seasons of Habu Club. Very excited to get started on this one. You can also see more info on this in the shop.

Knit on people

Just a quick update

2008-07-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd put an update to my last post.

Last Nights (and the night before) Knitting....
First I did share the love and finished the King Charles Brocade Sock before working on my Sea Tangles Monday night. The socks are washed and blocking now getting ready to be entered into the county fair. Pictures tomorrow. Last night I did work a dozen rows on Sea Tangles. This pattern really is so cool. You have a choice of knitting from the static .pdf files or the dynamic Excel spreadsheet. What makes the spreadsheets dynamic? Well, the designer uses some fairly complex formulas to create each rows directions and each time you close and reopen the spreadsheet the random placement and size of the cables change but keeps the number of stitches in the row and increases correct. Really fun to watch. This also confirms her note that no worries if you don't exactly place the cable 34 stitches in but 43 or if you invert the cable stitches... it's all random. Cool!

Habu Stainless Steel Silk for the Sea Tangles update
Wow, response for the Habu Stainless Steel Silk has been tremendous.
From the upcoming shipment here is currently what is available for reservation

grey are all spoken for
brown 3 available to be reserved
white and black plenty available for you to reserve

You can email me if you want yours from this upcoming shipment but
Of course I will be reordering this again soon.

Habu is coming
I have a great shipment that is scheduled to be here tomorrow and it includes some favorites that haven't been in for awhile.

Plus I've been busy today working on a surprise for the shop... more on that later.

hmmm, guess this wasn't really that quick of an update.
Promise pictures to share tomorrow.

Ok, I know I really shouldn't have ...

2008-07-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

I know, I know I have way too many in progress projects right now and several just need a bit of finishing to get them in 'completed' status. But you see knitty.com went and released the Summer 08 suprises and I couldn't help myself.

One of the patterns is Sea Tangles by Kie Zuraw.

This pattern is a unique design that showcases Habu Textile's Stainless Steel and Silk yarn perfectly. It is a frothy tunic that uses randomly placed and sized cables to mimic fishing nets or Japanese seaweed - amazing! I really did have intentions of finishing up my King Charles Brocade socks with just part of a repeat and toe left to do then this project called to me.

I just happened to have some of this yarn in my stash waiting for the perfect pattern. The color also happened to be the same as the one the designer used (03 - top grey). Soooo, I found an empty US 6 circ, opened the pattern and cast on for the left sleve. Ok, this yarn really is between cobweb and lace weight (read sewing thread), but once you get it going on the size 6 needles it really isn't bad at all. I would however recommend using needles with the pointiest tip you've got. You will also need a small cable needle to hold this slippery goodness of yarn when doing the cables. Oh, and please don't do what I did (see pic below) and wind this off of the cone into a ball... not a good idea. Just knit it directly off of the cone.
Several customers have already contacted me asking if I have this in stock. I am currently out but I've placed an order for a mess of these in the top 4 neutral colors. If you'd like to reserve some for a Sea Tangles for yourself just drop me an email and I'll set some aside. I am still trying to confirm the yardage on these but looks like it will only take 2 to 3 cones of this to do a sweater. Oh, and this pattern is sized from XS to a 3X!

Ok, I guess I'll have to get busy knitting now and share the love between this one and the socks that are sooo close to done.

They're Here!

2008-07-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

I've finally recieved the new product for The Knitting Hutch that I've been working on for a while now.

Knitit Wickit
The perfect knitting drying towels

For some time now I have searched for the perfect towel to dry my freshly washed knitted items. Old bathtowels were fine but just never seemed to absorb enough. These chamois cloths do the job very well. Knitit Wickit is a German made Chamois towel designed to wick away water. Whether you are preparing to block your freshly washed knitting project or dry your cherished heirloom knitted item this will wick away water and cut your drying time in half.
This is a must have item for any knitter! The kits include: 2 XLarge 27” x 20” cloths plus care instructions for $9.95. You can only find them at The Knitting Hutch.

Ok, now back to my knitting updates...

Last Nights Knitting .... Nothing really exciting here. I finished the leg of the King Charles Brocade sock and started on the heel turn. I did go with the Eye of Partridge flap but with the variegation you really can't see much pattern. Oh well.

Job Search update.... I haven't heard anything yet from the company or recruiter on the job downtown I really, really want. Hopefully I'll hear something on Monday... like a call to come in for an inperson interview.

That's all for now so everyone back to your knitting, and have a wonderful weekend.

I promised pictures today

2008-07-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share just a couple of birthday presents I received last week.

From my sister I got a couple cool craft/knitting related items.

Her friend made this cool craft/sewing pendant. I know I want to use some leftover tsumugi wrapped silk to hang it with but still not sure where exactly I want to showcase this.

Then she gave me this knitter's dream. A rolling knitting bag. Tons of room, tons of pockets and really great patterned fabric. But alas as noted on the tag 'Supplies Not Included'... bummer ;-)

A yarn only a mother could love .... and I use the term yarn very loosely (pun intended).

Actually it isn't too bad for my first attempt at this magic called spinning yarn. Hoping that I improve greatly with practice and glad I am using some inexpensive roving for this practice piece.

I do still envision a spinning wheel in my future.

Last Nights (and prior nights) Knitting... Here is proof that I am knitting a pair of socks right now. This is some Trekking XXL I purchased last May on the Sea Socks 07 Cruise in Victoria, BC. Love the muted, muddy colors and I selected the King Charles Brocade pattern for it from More Sensational Knitted Socks. The pattern does take a little extra attention and heavy reliance on knitting matras to get a rhythm. I am into the 4th repeat of the leg and this should be my preferred length and onto the heel. Gonna try the Eye of Partridge heel on this one for something different in a heel.

Ok now onto the job front.... I had the phone interview with the company I talked about yesterday and it went very well. The recruiter also heard from them that it went well. They are of course interviewing several people in the next day or two and will select a couple of us to come in for the in person round of interviewing before they make their choice. Hmmm, this isn't exactly they way the recruiter initially presented how this would go but oh well. I just hope I get this one as it sounds perfect for me and an exciting challenge.

Keep on Knittin'

Very good week

2008-07-09T20:12:00.001-07:00

Job Search News .... and looks like it might end with me getting a job. As you probably know I've been looking for 5 months and on Monday alone I submitted 9 applications. On Tuesday I received a call from a 'recruiter' looking for a Remedy Administrator / Developer for a client of theirs. It appears this isn't even one I had applied for as it isn't posted anywhere (yet). This 1st screening phone call went very well so he set up a time for me to have another screening interview this morning at 11am. This also went very, very well and he then set up for a (hopefully) final phone interview with the Director of Software Engineering tomorrow at 11am. I was told right off that the company really liked my resume and it looked good for me to be selected for this job. This will start off as a 6 month contract which more than likely lead into a permanent position. I've already researched this company, and equally important their location here in Seattle. I will share more about who they are and what they do once I land the job... but let's just say it is located in the absolutely most perfect spot in Seattle. They are right on the waterfront, between Pike Place Market and Seattle Center/Space Needle/Sculpture Garden. Oh, and my new hair stylist and So Much Yarn is just a few blocks away. Now I ask you how perfect is all that. Ok, now back to my chances. Not only does the referring and hiring company like me, I am the only candidate they are presenting to the hiring company! Check back tomorrow for updates.

Now back to our regularly scheduled knitting content....

Last Night's Knitting... Last night I went to the Tuesday night knitting group here in Marysville, WA. We met at the park which was a very nice change of venue from a coffee shop. Not only did I do a little knitting on my current sock project (remind me to share later), Megan taught me to spin with a spindle. Can you believe it! It's been over a year that I've been talking about learning to spin and finally I've started. Like everyone says it's a little bit of magic. Well I'm so mentally distracted today that I haven't taken any pictures so those will come tomorrow as well.

at the shop ... I received part of what i need for the exciting, new product I have in the works and the main part of this should arrive tomorrow or Friday at the latest. Then a bit of work and it should be available end of next week..ish. Promise this will be well worth the wait and you'll wonder how you went this long without it.

sorry for the lack of photos but I'll make up for it tomorrow.

It's My Birthday!

2008-07-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd throw that out there ;-) Yep, 3 more years and I can join AARP... oh boy!

It really was just like any other day but still enjoyable. I did go over to the Seattle Premium Outlets to find an "Interview" outfit. Went to my 3 reliable shops and finally found something I really like. Navy, button fronted skirt, tailored white blouse and a necklace to bring them together. Very happy here... now for an interview or two, or three....

Anywho... onto Wednesday's Featured Project

Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today

This is the project for the Victorian Lace Today July 08 KAL. We were supposed to start this on Monday the 1st but .... I cast on for this one on Saturday evening under the premise that it was just a test to see if I liked the stitch definition and color placement. I liked so I kept it and put it aside until yesterday to play along with the non-rules of this KAL. I selected some Claudia Hand Painted Silk Lace in John B that I had in my stash that came from my shop. Using some vintage Susan Bates US5 circular needles that are pointy enough to make lace doable. I like this pattern even though it took a repeat for me to get into the rhythm of it and I can see how it might get a little monotonous.

Ok, That's it for today and knit on all.

2fer Tuesday

2008-07-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like I didn't get to posting yesterday so I'll have to do 2 posts in one.

Monday's Musings - a day late. The last week was fairly uneventful. Still applying for positions and getting calls from recruiters (and nothing yet). I am currently working with one on a couple openings in the area that look very interesting and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of them works out, but not holding my breath. Knitting projects are moving along with just needing to finish up the Sonnet and Gisela Sweaters with buttons on the Sonnet and left front band and final blocking for Gisela. Speaking of Gisela. If you are considering this project, which is a great one, be aware that it runs a little small so gauge is very, very, very important. I know I knit on the tight side but my gauge isn't that much smaller but the XLarge is closer to a Large. Next one I will be combining the Tsumugi silk with the Cotton Gima and stepping up the sizing a bit. There is a new project in progress - Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I this one on a day or so early to check my gauge and really am liking this one. The KAL for this starts today and I am looking forward to seeing every ones projects. Last week I also place another order with Habu for even more lovely yarns and kits for the shop, and they should be in middle of next week. Then I also located a source for a very exciting new knitting tool that I know we'll all love and I already use regularly. Another project I've been working on is helping my mom redo her front yard. She has/had lawn with 2 trees and that's it.

We're pulling out all of the lawn in front, creating 2 tiers and turning into a English Country Cottage style garden. So far there

are 3 Mountain Ash bushes in different colors, coral bells in 2 different colors and a white variegated dogwood. It will be really nice when it's done and I'll post pictures of it's progress. And like an idiot I forgot to take pictures of the before with all of the lawn. Oh well.

Last night's knitting - Over the weekend I washed and did the pre-assembly blocking of Gisela and then assembled on Sunday. Then picked up and knit the collar and one of the front bands. It just needs the final front band and a final, very aggressive blocking. Note on the front bands. To widen the front sides I've opted to double the band from a 5 row garter to a 10 row garter. There was also the start of the Myrtle Leaf Shawl. I said this was the swatch but really I just went ahead and started the pattern and was pleased with the gauge and stitch definition and set it aside for tonight's knitting. No knitting was done Monday night. Spent all afternoon and well into the evening at Group Health evaluating my GERD and making sure it wasn't something more serious, which it isn't, so wasn't up to much of anything last night.

Check back tomorrow.... knit on.

Friday Fun

2008-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the end of another week with the weekend ahead. Good time to make plans for finishing up projects and of course plan for (or start) a new one or two.

Last nights knitting ....
I did manage to finish up the left sleeve, but didn't get to starting the right sleeve. The reason was I was putting up a few items in the Dollar (and more) bin in the shop as well as compiling a knitting needle size conversion page which includes Japanese sizes. You can find this in the Helpful Stuff area of the shop. I know with patterns written in Japanese it is not easy to know what that size matches to in US/UK/Metric sizes so I thought I'd put it up for easy reference. Hope this is helpful... I know it will be for me.

Future plans ....

Finishing up - Tonight I will be casting on and knitting the right sleeve of Gisela. Should have this done tomorrow night and then all that is left will be sewing, collar, and bands for the front. I've changed my mind on blocking before assembly since there is still some knitting (collar and bands) after sewing together. So I hope to wash and block sometime on Sunday.

New project(s) - The new KAL for Victorian Lace Today will be starting on Tuesday, July 1st and the project will be the Myrtle Leaf Shawl. I've already picked out some yarn from my stash. Claudia's Hand Painted Silk in John B.

I do have a sock project planned and hope to have done in time for entering into the county fair but we'll see. Not like I don't already have at least 5 projects I plan on entering . This will be the first time I've entered anything at a fair and am looking forward to it. I'll share which projects will be entered towards the end of next week.

Future for The Knitting Hutch

More pages in the Helpful Stuff related to Japanese and Lace knitting.
Just placed an order with Habu and know people are looking forward to this one.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday's Thoughts

2008-06-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, Let's jump right into it ...

Last Night's Knitting

More work on the Gisela Sweater with most of the left sleeve done and right one left to knit.
Wow, this is going to get really tedious. I do like the design of the sleve with a little slit of 3 to 3.5" at the lower outside edge. Rather than knitting the small 10 stitch section separate from the larger section and then join them when reaching the required length I knit them both at the same time and joined. This way I knew the row count and tension/gauge were exactly the same. Tonight I should finish up this sleeve and start on the right one.

Finishing thoughts ... I posted in the Cocoknits group on Ravelry asking if those who've done this one blocked and if so before or after sewing together. One response was that they blocked and before sewing and a lite block after assembly. My reason for asking is that the pattern, unlike most, makes no mention of blocking and when it should be done if at all. The other was that the shoulder 'seams' are live on holders and is unusual (for me) to have when blocking. In my opinion this one really does need a good and very agressive blocking session. So I'll go for it and use the stitches on the holders to help in the blocking, and maybe a light one after sewing as well.

Speaking of sewing this together I think I'll to a crochet seam on this one like I did for my Habu Shoulder bag. I love this method for this papery yarn and it gives a clean, serged like edge. Plus it's really easy and quick... just a series of single crochets joining each piece.

On the Job Front. Thought I'd let you all know how this is coming along, or not as the case may be. As you know in February of this year I was laid off from Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and moved to north of Seattle, WA on May 1st. Since the 2nd week of Feb I've been looking aggressively for a Reemdy Administration/Development and Oracle Development positino in CA or WA then in May narrowed my search to the Seattle area. I am registered on at least 6-8 job boards and can't tell you how many applications/resume submissions to job postings I've done to date. I have received numerous nibbles of interest and a handfull of phone/in-person interviews but no offers yet. (note optomisim in the "yet") Today alone I've submitted my resume for 6 jobs in the Seattle area. I also might hear next week if I will be asked back for another interview for a position with company in the insurance industry. Ok, so there's the latest and all positive job vibes welcome here.

Knit on ya'll

What's Happening

2008-06-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am attempting to be more consistent in my blogging and my goal is to blog every weekday.
To help with this I am trying out a theme for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays entries.

Monday - General musings about knitting projects and life.
Wednesday - Featured Project (mine or Habu inspired).
Friday - Future Plans where I'll share projects I'll be starting as well as what is on the way to The Knitting Hutch.

I'm hoping that with a little structure it will help keep me blogging regularly.
I'll also be sharing what I worked on last night just about everyday as well.

Last Night's Knitting and Featured Project -
Gisela Sweater by Cocoknits using Habu Cotton Gima.
(see this at The Knitting Hutch)

Ok it is cheating a little since I already introduced this project before but I promise to be better prepared next week. Last night just about completed the back of this sweater and will easily finish the back tonight. Since I started by knitting the fronts this will leave the sleeves, sewing and blocking. This is a quick and enjoyable project and will be perfect for Summer evenings .

I planned for using 4 balls of the Habu Cotton Gima but looks like 3 should do it. I'll save the "What I've Learned" for the final post for this project.

Gisela on Ravelry

Check back with ya tomorrow

Happy Summer Solstice

2008-06-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to wish everyone a Happy Summer Solstice...
and that your Summer is Peacefull, Plentiful and Productive.

I'll check back in on Sunday with a week in review.

Projects Finished and Projects Started

2008-06-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share with you a project completely finished and another started.

French Trellis Scarf - Finis
I cast this one on last Sept (07) and stalled when I came to the final knit on border.
While finishing the Spider's-Web Fichu I finally broke through the single knitted on border block and came back to this project while it was fresh in my mind. This was a fun project from Victorian Lace Today. Here's some stats.
Yarn: Habu Kusaki-Zome A-4 2/10 (3 balls)
Needles: US5
Blocked this yesterday afternoon and pulled up this morning... Love it!
The color in the center pic is a little closer to the actual color.

Gisela Sweater - Started

So with this done I just had to cast on a new project especially since my Habu order for the shop came in and this yummy cotton gima (fake linen) was waiting for the Gisela pattern that came last week..... how's that for a terribly long run on sentence.

I am using 4 balls of the Smoke (pink) color and am making the largest size using US8's since it seems to run quite small. Cast on last night and already finishing up the left front. Very quick knit.

New Arrivals at The Knitting Hutch

Speaking of new things in the shop. My order from Habu arrived first thing yesterday morning and I spent most of the day doing related tasks to receive it in and get it up on the website. In this shipment was...

Bunches of the Cotton Gima in 5 (now 4) colors for the Gisela pattern
More of the Tsumugi Silk
Kusaki Zome Silk ... see above fini project... in several colors
Restock of Silk Mohair
Kusha Kusha and Shippo Tail scarf kits ... which won't last long.
Along with a couple Habu Patterns (Feather & Fan Scarf and Cotton Gima Sweater)

Sunday summary

2008-06-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Spider-Web Fichu Shawl

Last Thursday I finished the Fichu sized Spiders-Web shawl from Victorian Lace Today.

I cast on for this project on Jan 1st during the Rose Bowl Parade for the VLT Jan 08 KAL and I had finished the body of this fairly quickly then found it difficult to find beads with the right color and size.
Then a few weeks ago I found them and got on with the border. This was my first knitted on border and am happy with it and now feel more comfortable with the process.

Details
Yarn: 2 balls of Habu Textiles Hand-Dyed Kasuri Cashmere A-171 2/24

Needles: Hiya Hiya Stainless Steel circulars US 6 / 4.0 mm

I love the yarn and was pleased after hearing how short the yardage estimates in the book tend to run that I only needed 2 balls and still had some left. It probably helped going down a needle sized from the recommended size.

The fichu style is one of my favorites because of the fit and this is small but perfect for wearing with a t-shirt or tank to dress up a casual outfit.

So, what's next on the needles?

I've taken my Sonnet sweater out of hibernation. This is a free pattern on knitty.com from the Fall 2003 issue. This week I've finished the first sleeve and well into the second and should have it bathed, blocked and all sewn up by the end of next weekend.

Since the 1st of May I've been really good at focusing on finishing up all my Works In Progress and am enjoy it very much. Seems like I am more of a project oriented knitter rather than process oriented. This is good since I have quite a few WIPs waiting to be completed. So you knitters out there... are you a process or project oriented knitter? and how many WIPs do you have waiting for you? ;-)

... everyone back to your knitting

Sock it to me...

2008-06-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am old enough to have watched, and loved Laugh In and Goldie Hawn's line.

However this blog is devoted to the last three socks that were in progress for quite awhile and have recently completed. At the beginning of this year I joined the Weekly Sock project group and was doing really well at doing a sock a week. Then with events of February I seemed to have lost my knitting mojo for a bit. Don't worry... it's back and I'm moving along nicely finishing up the many projects I've started over the past year.

Today's offering will be Socks

First up - Love Waving Lace Socks
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Fingering
Color: Love in Idleness
Needles: Hiya Hiya Circs US1 (2)
Pattern: Waving Lace by Evelyn Clark in Favorite Socks

BMFA's fingering weight is one of my very favorite sock yarns ever... nice and soft/squishy and lovely to work with. This is a really nice pattern that I enjoyed knitting; easy to memorize and read the knitting.

I really loved the detailed cuff. A little fiddly in the beginning but worth the effort. Nice pattern that I would do again... but a little bit shorter as these are a little longer than I typically wear.

Next up - Flamingo Feather Socks
Yarn: Opal Rainforest
Color: Flamingo
Needles: Hiya Hiya Circs US0 (2)
Pattern: Ridged Feather from Sensational Knitted Socks

OK, I have to say that I didn't really like this yarn... a little to thin and stringy for my liking but I made it work and like them. This pattern I another one of my favorite and will be a 'go to' pattern I'm sure.
It's very, very easy to memorize and read and like the garter stitch cuff.

Last but not least- Mossy Basket Socks
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Fingering Weight
Color: Woodland Moss
Needles: Hiya Hiya Circs US1 (2)
Pattern: Stansfield 27 from More Sensational Knitted Socks

I have loved Claudia's fingering weight wool for socks since the first time I used them. Like BMFA it's a very squishy, soft yarn that is a true pleasure to knit with and wear. That said, she has changed her source for yarn and I haven't tried the new base and hope it is just as nice. This colorway is also one of my favorites of hers but it did present some problems with finding the perfect stitch pattern that didn't make it look so camo. My sister and I looked through More Sensational Knitted socks and she thought a more geometric pattern might work better than a biased lace and she was right. This is sort of a basket weave effect that I really like and I know I'll be looking at the geometric patterns closer now. Love it!

Ok, enough of the socks ... for now. Last night I finished the border of the Spider's-Web Fichu shoulder shawl from Victorian Lace Today (picture on the right) Today I wove in the ends, washed and blocked. Pictures and details this weekend.

Tonight I will be back on my Sonnet Sweater (also pictured on the right) and hope to finish this up this week - Finally!

Knit on ya all

Back in Action

2008-06-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

... well mostly.

On May 1st I drove with my kitty up to our new home in Washington state while all my belongings made it up with the movers. It was a nice drive with perfect weather and I was so, so glad I had the forethought to take miss Fifi to the vets to get kitty sedatives for the drive. This helped both of us retain our sanity (grins). She is adjusting very well to her new environs and quite content to have me home all the time. Yes, I'm still pounding the Internet for a job up here and not having the kind of luck I was hoping. It really has only been 4 months next week but it is discouraging. Wishing I could make a living doing what I love but I'll keep at it while looking for a job to support my knitting habit.

Knitting. I have been knitting more now that I've settled in and no longer preparing for a big move. I've finished up 3 pair of socks that were in progress. Icarus is done and beautiful and I'm in the middle of completing the border on the Spider's Web Fichu Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. This week I'll devote a posting to each of these with pictures. I've also found a great group of women to knit with here in Marysville that meet every Tuesday night.

During the drive from CA to WA I had plenty of time to think about the shop and whether or not to finish closing it down or keep it going but in a new direction. I really enjoy running this little knitting shop on the web and the customers I get to know even if it is virtual. What I've decided is to keep The Knitting Hutch going but to refine the focus to specializing in yarns and kits from Habu Textiles and knitting needles from Hiya Hiya as well as some select accessories. The first shipment from Habu arrived last Thursday and is already going out very quickly. I will be placing another order with them tomorrow. This shippment was to restock a few colors of the Tsumugi Silk, kusha kusha scarf kit, a couple of the purse kits and a new shippo tail scarf kit. This next order will include more scarf kits and favorite silk and cotton yarns. I'm thinking about doing a weekly post spotlighting one of their yarns or kits with reviews and project ideas.

You will still see some non Habu items in the shop and these are or will be reduced for close out.

Check out the remaining Claudia Hand Painted Mohair and small loop Boucle at 45% off!

Well that's all for now and promise to not go so long before posting again.

Rollercoasters Suck

2008-02-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

I was officially thrown off of the damned rollercoaser this morning. Last day of the 3 day layoff process and I was the first one called in and 'given notice' this morning. That really, really sucked. Seems like the universe decided that 2.5 years of a relatively calm and peaceful life was more than enough and time to shake things up again. All things in perspective it could have been worse... I was given 60 days notice with the option of taking paid administrative leave and 3 months severence pay which is good, and at least I'm not there cleaning up the mess created by laying off the wrong people. While driving home from being told I'm no longer needed I get a call from an internal customer that the systems I created and supported are down and they need them up immediately. Well, I told him, If I was still employeed number one this wouldn't have happened and number two if it had I could have it up within the hour and sorry to hear you were told it might not be up until Monday at the earliest but there's nothing I can do. On top of that my boss had the nerve to call me asking for my password so if they were able to reinstate my account they could log in with it and try to fix the problem. Yeah, like I'm going to do that and open myself to accusations of malicious intent or even lawsuit if something went wrong. Don't think so.

Well as they say where one door closes another one opens... now to be sure to go through the right door. Needless to say I will be doing a lot of soul searching on my next move to make sure it is the right one and not force something just because. Speaking of open doors; I've decided that during this time I really need to simplify things and will be closing my online shop The Knitting Hutch and am liquidating all inventory for 25% off so take a look. Be sure to check back as I will be adding new products that I don't have up in the shop yet.

Did I mention I don't like roller coasters?

2008-02-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, I hate roller coasters... both literal and figurative coasters.

For me major stresses in life is like a figurative roller coaster ride and I get sick on roller coasters. For the past month we've been faced with a 10% layoff at work and this is the week notices are going out. I hope to make it through the end of tomorrow. Even if I do make it I will still feel badly for those who will be gone. Other things are also becoming stressful as well. Sales are down right now which is to be expected right after the holidays and we still need at least 10 more people to join us at Lace in the Woods to break even. Then of course it's tax time and that's always stressful for everyone. I really not usually so down and am typically a very optomistic person so I'll end this with 'This to shall pass' and move on now.

Now back to our regularly scheduled knitting content...

The Sonnet Sweater Sleeve (release 2). Ok I know I spent some 'quality' knitting time during the Super Bowl working on this and was past what would be the elbow. Maybe if I hadn't of had that beer and then that glass of wine I would have stopped myself sooner. With another look at it on Monday I realized I really didn't like the way it was turning out at all. So I threw it aside and cast on version 2. This one I am knitting flat instead of in the round and I cast on 44 stitches making it a little wider than version 1 which was too narrow. As usual I thought I was being cleaver in my modification but in reality I was overthinking it. I am really happy with this version and I'm already to the elbow. I'm hoping to have this sleeve done this weekend and onto the second sleeve (after I frog sleeve 1 version 1).

I still love socks

2008-02-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

There's been knitting progress this week.

On the 'Big Project' front ... the Sonnet Sweater is still chuging along.
I went to some friends yesterday for a Super Bowl Party.
Well actually it was a Super Bowl Commercial and Half Time party since none of us are really into football but really enjoy the commercials and halftime show. Great food, people and there was even knitting. I worked on the Sonnet sleve and am past the elbow. Guess I was talking and watching more than I thought since I estimated having this sleeve done by the end of the game. I modified the pattern for the sleeve by not only knitting it in the round thus eliminating a bulky seam but also made it narrower. I thought the original sleve was too blulky/boxy looking and I wanted a more fitted sleeve. Instead of casting on 50 stitches based on the pattern calculations I did 32 and will increase to 56 at the widest part at the top. It is turning out nicely and after blocking should be perfect.

Here's a little closeup of the sleve showing the box stitch pattern that goes down the side of the sleeve.

yup. just past the elbow and still want this sweater done by the 23rd.

another reason this didn't have as much of the knitting attention this week as it probably should have is my continued love for socks.

I finished my 5th sock of the year on Saturday and cast on for it's mate (3rd pair of '08) last night.

Isn't it a cutie? Here's the Lace Cuff Anklet all done with it's crochet edging.

Thought I'd lift it's skirt and show you the very clever 1x1 ribbing underneath the lace to support the cuff.

All it's cuteness... and it fits perfectly.

I also took time to finish up a pair of Monkey socks that I had started back in August while visting my sister and mom in Seattle. These are Cookie A's Monkey sock pattern turned on it's toes. I did them toe up using my favorite magic cast on and used her stitch pattern which turned upside down since going toe up insead of cuff down. I also used a short row heel and a twisted rib cuff. The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber's Socks That Rock Light Weight in Footzey Foo and I used US1's. Love them and they will join the other Monkey's Little Bunny Foo Foo and there is a third Foo colorway waiting to turn into a monkey.

Uninspired title

2008-01-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

I can't come up with a catchy title for this one hence the 'uninspired title'.

Anyways just a bit of update on things here. There was some good knitting time this weekend with the wet rainy weekend here. On Saturday Michelle stopped by to knit and we got her started on her Spanish Christening Shawl (baby blanket). She's using some lovely pastel colored variegated yarn by Jojoland from my shop. This is a pattern from Folk Shawls and is designed as a large square lady's shawl but we agreed to size it down for a baby blanket which was the inspiration for this shawl. I have to say this is my 'go to' shawl book. Need a shawl for an occasion/gift you will find it there no problem. Can't wait to see how she's coming on with it this Saturday. On Sunday another lady came over for knitting lessons and we had a great time and know she left with some new tips and techniques.

Sonnet Sweater Update - On Saturday while Michelle was working away on her blanket I finished the buttonhole band and cast off the body of the Sonnet Sweater. Then promptly cast on the sleeve (more on that another day).

Here it is with the buttons placed where they will be sewn on after blocking.

The picture on the left is the 'right side' where you can plainly see the bind of edge.
Picture on the right is the 'wrong side' where the bind off is not visible and the edge blends in.
I'm leaning towards making the 'wrong side' the 'right side' so the bind off not so noticeable.
Given the stitch patterns used in this sweater are reversible I can get away with this kind of thing. What do you think?

Weekly Sock Project - Ok, so I haven't quite finished my Dexter's Canvas sock I went ahead and cast on for my next sock a week project Lace Cuff Anklet in Dusky Plum. There's less than 3 repeats left to complete the Dexter's sock which I will do tonight and that will complete 2 pair so far in '08. This pattern comes from Favorite Socks by Interweave Press. I saw this pattern and have been itching to do it for quite a while now and love it.

photo from book

I'm using Hand Jive's Nature's Pallet Fingering weight yarn in Dusky Plum.
Isn't it yummy? This pattern starts at the top (yep, I know... what not starting at the toe?).
You start by knitting the Lacy cuff in a really simple 4 stitch pattern, purl 1 row to help the cuff fold neatly then onto the supporting rib section of the cuff that the lace folds over. Really a quick knit sock so far. I can see a lace cuff sock addiction coming on. I have Nicky Epstein's' Over the Edge series that I could use to make up my own.

lace and cuff - wouldn't it make the cutest doll dress/skirt? - top of the cuff.

Lace in the Woods update - Lookie there less than 4 months until the retreat.
Still thinking about joining us? Sign up soon as the group hold on the cottages will expire March 1st and they will go quickly. There are over 60 in the group on Ravelry and I sense a rush of registrations any time now ;-)

Yep, I'm sewing again

2008-01-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

My other hobby is coming back.

It's been awhile but I've started sewing again. I learned to sew in 1972 when I was 11, about the same time I learned to knit. For Christmas that year I received an old but refurbished singer sewing machine. Here it is... isn't it cute! I love that machine. I was a very simple, basic machine that basically only went forward and backwards with the the only thing you could vary was the stitch length... but I love it. Ok, so finally after 36 years I decided it was time to pass the love along to the next generation. It's been recently serviced, cleaned and I gave it along with a lot of sewing paraphernalia and material for Christmas to my niece's daughter. Yep, I'm an enabler ;-) She love it too and I have visitation privs.

So, I treated myself this Christmas, 36 years later to a brand spanking new sewing machine.
It's a Brother XR7700 with 110 stitch functions. Wow, that's 110x more than my 1 stitch wonder. I've only played with some of the stitches and haven't tried the button hole stitches yet but it is fantastic.

and I've completed the very first full project on it last weekend.

Amy Butler Frenchy Bag

I've recently discovered this sewing and fabric designer and love her work.
This is some fabric I've had for well over 15 years and used the Frenchy bag pattern.
Very fun and versatile bag to use as a general purpose purse or of course knitting bag.
It is fully lined with 2 pocket flaps which in this bag function more like a center pocket.
The pattern has you putting a magnetic snap closure but I am fresh out of those and need to order some. The next one I will put one in as well as one to close the pocket(s) too.

Just like with my knitting I have a queue of projects lined up that I want to do.
Someday I'll be brave and take some pictures of the sewing room and share them here.

Well, That's it for today and now back to my sock in progress and The Daily Show.

Project Update Monday...ummm Tuesday

2008-01-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well guess I missed posting project updates yesterday so here goes.

The Sock A Week project(s) is going very well. I finished my 3rd sock of 08 on Sunday night and I'll cast on it's mate tonight. I am really enjoying the color and pattern on this project. This was made with Valentine's Day in mind but I think it could do holiday double duty as a Christmas sock as well. Candy cane anyone?

In Large Knitting Project News. Sonnet is also progressing nicely. I am well into the left front which will complete the body of the sweater and onto the sleeves. I think I'll change things a little and knit the sleeves in the round to eliminate the seam as well as making them a little slimmer. We'll see.

gratuitous closeup ;-)

Don't you just love these turtle buttons?

knit side to side ... right front and back.

On Saturday Michelle stopped by for a knitting lesson and we started her on the Saartje's Bootees which I've been enamored with for some time. That afternoon I had to start one and did according to the pattern (which is well written). I'll post more on this tomorrow. Once I take and upload some pictures.

Another knitting related project.

Last weekend I was itching to try my hand at making stitch markers and I happened to have what I needed on hand. A bead kit (never opened) and some stitch markers I purchased on etsy.com.

Inspiration piece bought as a set of 5 on etsy.

Single I made with beads and head pin had on hand.

Set of 5 I made again with what I had on hand.

I have to say this was so much fun I ordered a bunch of head pins and beads to do a whole lot more. You just might see some added to the shop.

Short and sweet Monday

2008-01-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

First order of business comment answers.

On Thursday Mere asked
"... How/where did you get your project tracker? ..."
If you are already on Ravelry there is a very, very long discussion thread where you can asked to be added to the beta group trying this out, get tips on how to install and customize it, and see what others have done. Basically cut and paste some Java code that you are given and if you know Java can customize. There is also a really good wiki on this there as well. I really like this as it means only one place to update the status of my projects and photos. If you're not already on Ravelry... sign up today! The waiting list I hear isn't too bad now.

Sock a Week and Big Project Updates:

SaW - Well, so far I'm keeping up. I finished my second sock (Ebony Baby Fern) on Sunday and cast on the Dexter's Canvas Sock. I'll post photo's of the sock in progress later this week along with the details.

Big Project - I have 6 more rows of the body left which I'll finish up easily this week. However, this might be taking a little nap while searching for the right beads for the border. The beads I have for this I don't think will work and I'm not totally happy with them for this project. So, I'll be bringing another big project out of hibernation in the next day or two.

That's it for now... exciting updates on the Lace in the Woods retreat tomorrow

Time for a reality check

2008-01-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

You might notice over there on the left where normally there are a zillion WIPs that there are only 2 now. I thought it was time to be honest with myself (and Ravelry) and acknowledge that in fact I only have 2 projects that I am actively working on. A sock project (Weekly sock a week KAL) and a larger project such as a shawl. Well, at least this is my goal for 2008. The other 'WIP's are still around; they are just taking a siesta while waiting patiently for their turn in the Active Knitting Basket or the Active Knitting Bag. The Basket will hold my current larger project while the Bag will hold my more portable current sock project.

This is my new Active Knitting Basket. I found it while browsing some antique stores in Moss Landing and fell in love with it. It even came supplied with ever useful safety pins ;-).

My current large project is still the Spider's-Web Shawl from Victorian Lace Today which is moving along very nicely.

So, what about my knitting bag... well pictures coming tomorrow and it's contents is still the Ebony Baby Fern socks; which I am on schedule to complete by Sunday!!!

Since the socks and shawl are nearing completion what will be taking their place?
Well, no problem there. The next socks in line will be the Dexter's Canvas V-Day socks (still looking for the perfect pattern and more catchy name). And for the larger project?
I will try to be more disciplined this year and only work on projects that I've already started and nothing new unless I need it for a gift. So, the next one will be the Sonnet Sweater (photo shoot this weekend). The body of this is over 3/4 completed and that just leaves the sleeves.
I would love to have this one done in time to wear to Stitches West the last weekend in Feb (yes, 2008).

1 down.... 51 to go

2008-01-08T22:30:00.001-08:00

Woot... One sock done, which means 51 more to knit this year. I'm a little behind schedule for the Sock A Week 08 KAL but I know I'll catch up and finish the second one by end of Sunday. The Spider's web shawl will suffer though and will have to pace myself and reset the finish date for Sunday the 20th.

I'm liking this one. The yarn Fleece Artist Merino isn't the softest merino I've used but I have hopes it will wash up nicely and keep the stitch definition. The pattern is great and comes from my favorite sock pattern book More Sensational Knitted Socks. Baby Fern - It is an easy to memorize 12 stitch by 6 row repeat. The gauge with this yarn and needles (US1, my standard sock size) is a little larger than normal so I did 7 repeats of the pattern for the instep instead of 8. Short Row heel with 10 un-worked stitches instead of 11 or 12. Then onto 9 repeats on the leg since I wanted it a little longer than I normally do (same number as the instep). Topping it with a 1x1 ribbing for 9 rows with a stretchy bind-off. the bind off I used for this one isn't the frilly one I've been doing but bound off in pattern and with 2 stitches on the right needle slipped the left needle in front of the 2 stitches from left to right and knit off making a smoother edge.

I'm hoping that I'll keep on 'schedule' with this SAW KAL and will post my progress here every Monday.

So far ... so good ...

2008-01-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

Well nearly through the first week of 2008 and it's been a good one.

As you know I started by rolling out the new version of The Knitting Hutch.
I've been receiving some very good feedback and will be working on getting all the products in their appropriate places. Also, making it an inviting site to browse through and enjoy looking at some pretty and inspiring yarns and helpful knitting items. Feel free to email me with feed backs and ideas. I enjoy hearing from you and working on the shop. There is a new shipment of Jojoland yarn (variegated worsted weight) and a small mesh laundry bag.
This will be perfect for throwing your hand knit socks into keeping them contained when washing with the rest of your delicates.

I didn't have to go back to work until Thursday and Friday I worked from home since I knew this was coming. On Friday we had a tremendous storm with ferocious winds and rain coming down sideways. The wind was so great at one point about 7 metal panels flew off of the roof of the barn. We sure need the rain but the wind, not so much ;-)

Yesterday I spent a little time with my extended family at Myra's birthday party which was fun.
She turned 8 and I made her a gypsy style shawl with a mix of a grey blue wool, soft fuzzy cream, tan leather like ribbon and a hand spun wool with beads added in. She loves it!

Afterwards I continued with putting away Christmas decorations. After looking at and dealing with Christmas decorations since early October at my Grandmother's I'm ready to have them all put away.

All in all it's been a good week.

Onto Knitting (and other crafty) Aspirations.

Have a shawl in progress and complete 6-8 this year. Here's the one I'm working on right now. This the Spider's Web Shawl from Victorian Lace Today and is one of the 4 projects in the current Knit A Long. I cast this on New Year's Day while watching the Rose Parade. It is a quick one and I'm doing the smallest Fichu size instead of the full Hexagon or Half Hex. I'm already nearing the end of the body of this and the border doesn't look too involved so I'm guessing I could be done by next Sunday. Quick details: Yarn - Habu Hand Dyed Cashmere on US5 Hiya Hiya 32" circs.

Pretty web detail ....

Closeup ...

Socks.... 2 pair per month. This shouldn't be too hard to do and if you saw my sock yarn stash you'd know why I have this one as a goal for '08. My current sock in progress is HandMaiden Merino in Ebony using the Baby Fern pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. Isn't it pretty? This is my favorite colorway by HandMaiden. Remember my Kimono Shawl in Ebony Sea Silk (yep, still need to finish that one).
Finish my Sonnet Sweater ... pictures later this week. I promise.
One Felting Project. Not sure yet what ... might be the FiberTrends Felted Clogs.

and because I need to be more balanced I'm including some non knitting crafts too...

Sewing. I have several bags and purse projects planned and hope to have at least 4 done. This also means I need to finish up setting up and organizing my sewing room which is coming along nicely.
Painting. Christmas of 05 I bought myself a painting easel and supplies to delve into painting. I haven't touched it and really would like to give this a go this spring. I have a really nice place set up in my bedroom for this and am excited to get started.

Ok, I've rambled on long enough now but I want to leave you with some yummy sock yarn pron. I just received these this week. They are hand dyed by DharmaFey and are inspired by the Showtime series Dexter. Love this show and love this yarn.

first up is Dexter's Canvas... I'm thinking this would make a lovely pair of socks for Valentine's Day ;-)

This is simply called Dexter.

Welcome 2008

2008-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008 (I hope).

2007 was your typical year with a healthy balance of good and bad. Some goals acheived, and some not. Loved ones gone and new ones here or on the way. It was a busy year but that's good too ... keeps me out of trouble ;-) I was fortunate enough to travel a little (Cruise to Canada and see my sister and mom in Seattle). Met new knitting buddies both local and throughout the country.

New Online Shop launched! This was one of my goals for 2007 and I was able to roll it out on New Years Eve. It is still a work in progress as I have products not in the new shop yet. Please feel free to stop by and browse. There are a couple new goodies in such as Amy Butler Wool Wash by Soak and a wonderful Blocking Wire kit. There are some new needles and jojoland yarns on the way.

Goals for 2008. I really don't like the word Resolutions since we have come to view these as things we hope to acheive but never to. The idea is great since give you things to shoot for and keeps you moving ahead in some sense. So, I prefer to set goals or aspirations for the coming year. My goals for 2007 were never 'written' down anywhere just basically thoughts and things I've stated out loud to others to make them real. I like to break them down into logical groupings. Such as Personal, Home, Career, and Creative Arts which helps me to make sure to keep things in balance a little.

All the best to you in 2008.

USPS is the Best!

2007-12-20T12:35:00.001-08:00

I swear I have the best USPS letter carrier. He really does go above and beyond the call of duty. Look at all the boxes of boxes he carried up to my front porch. That same night he called me at home to update me on the status of a shipment trace I put on a package sent to a customer. I didn't realize they did the trace inquires too. This is why all my shipments go USPS Priority Mail. So I have a Starbucks $20.00 gift card for him tomorrow.

Grinchy Goodness ~

Grinchy Shawl. Oh how happy I am with this!

It really is so quick and simple (once you get the hang of knitting with really loopy yarn).

Started with 7 stitches. 3 border stitches and a center stitch. Then garter stitch (like you'd see any pattern with this yarn) and on every other row did a yarn over after border, either side of the center stitch and a final one before the last 3 border stitches. That's it! For the edge I knew I wanted something kinda frilly and freeform-ish so I did a modified frilled bind off.

Standard Frilled Bind Off - k1, * m1, bind off, k1 bind off * (repeat from * to*).
My modification: I repeated the m1, bind off 1 - 3 times randomly to get an exaggerated frillyness.

Here it is before it's bath and blocking.

Here's it's closeup.

Grinchy Grouchy Sock - 1 down and turning the heel on the second one tonight.
Here it is reclining on the Grinchy Shawl.

Hey... Look over there =>

2007-12-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

Yeah... look at the new shiny things on the right under 'Knit Happens'. I've added some new javascript objects from Ravelry to show my current projects progress. Still some tweaking to do to make it look better and easier to read. It will help once I include pictures for all of these in progress projects.

I'm also ignoring the fact that I'm lying on Ravelry and really have more projects started than what I've listed there and showing here but I'll deal with that later. I'm also changing my blog template and need to find a nice picture to put up here on the title bar.

As you can see over in the new fancy dancy project status bar area the Hemlock Ring Blanket is DONE! Casting off that one was something else, but I am so pleased with the way it turned out after blocking. Pictures in the next day or two. Also you'll notice another project 100% complete. Well this is true in the sense that I'm done knitting it but I won't mark it as 'Finished' until I've washed, blocked and done a photo shoot... so be looking for that one too.

Tomorrow starts my holiday break and I really need to create some lists to keep me on track so I'm ready for Christmas Eve.

Presents left to be purchased
Food to be bought at the grocery store and Costco
Target list... yes, this get's it's own special list
Oh, and yes a list to keep track of the lists.

It's my turn to have the family over for Christmas Eve and there will be about 20 of us. A couple of us are silly and like to have 'theme' Christmas eves. Mostly these involve the food and traditions from different countries. We've done Italian, Danish, Mexican, Irish and we even did a Christmas/Hanuka combo when they fell on the same day.

While these are fun and a great way of learning new holiday traditions and possibly adding them to our own I thought it would be fun to do something totally different. I started planning on keeping with the country type theme by doing a Greek inspired Christmas. Then everything changed when I started working on my Grinchy socks and remembered how this is my favorite Christmas movie and thought how fun it would be to bring a little of the elements of the story into our Christmas Eve. The original movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, came out in 1966 when I was 5 years old and is such a major part of my childhood memories of Christmas.

Menu

Prime Rib 'Roast Beast'
Yorkshire Pudding 'Who Pudding'
Twice Baked Potatoes (ok I'm cheating here and bought them at Costco)
Sauteed Fresh Green Beans. These just look so much like grinchy fingers.
Cherry Jello Salad in the shape of a large heart. 'grew 3 times ...'
Fresh Green Salad
Homemade biscuits, because we won't let Brenda come without them ;-)
and various assortment of deserts

We'll have a reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and possibly showing one or both versions of the movie. Want to know more about The Grinch? wikipedia article

And now for a little musical interlude ... the song You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

Ok, now maybe I'll have to make this my new 'tradition' when I have Christmas eve to base the theme on my favorite Christmas stories/movies. Hmmm, maybe it'll be the Nutcracker next time. What's your favorite Christmas story/movie from your childhood?

Busy, busy, busy ....

2007-12-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

I really do hate going so long without posting but there just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything I'd love to do. If there were more hours in a day or if I could get by with just say, 2 hours of sleep I'd be fine ;-) Ok so what have I been doing with the measly 24 hours we get in a day? (besides sleeping and other mundane daily tasks.

Knitting

My current projects are coming along nicely.

Hemlock Ring Blanket - should be casting off tomorrow night and ready to wash and block on Saturday.
Grinchy Grouchy Socks - well not so nicely now that I think about it. I cast on the recommended number of stitches on a US 0 (a size smaller than in the pattern). Knit the cuff and then a full repeat when it became very obvious that these were way too big. I'm going to frog (rip it out for you knitting muggles out there) and start over with 1 less pattern repeat or 1 less stitch in each repeat... haven't decided yet. Once it gets rolling I'll post some pictures.
Hypotenuse - Done, washed and blocked .... however I'm not happy with the blocking so will take a do over. I don't currently have blocking which will prevent the scalloping you get with just pins. (more on blocking wires below)

Grinchy inspired shawl. I had an idea to make a shawl to go with my Grinchy Grouchy socks for Christmas. I first did a moebius scarf using the Claudia Hand Painted Boucle but wasn't happy with it (way to long and too narrow). So I started a very simple triangular shawl in garter stitch. this is your basic neck down pattern starting with 5 stitches and increasing every other row 2 stitches in from each border edge and on either side of the center stitch. I am very pleased with this one and know it will be a keeper. the simple patter suits the boucle nicely and shows the gradual shifts in color well. I'll keep knitting until I get close to the size I want and cast off. Gratuitous yarn picture ... Claudia Hand Painted Boucle (small loop) in Woodland Moss.

Other knitting related stuff...

On Saturday I met with 4 knitters in the Monterey Ravelry group at the Ol' Factory.
It was great meeting fellow knitters and we plan on making this a monthly event. I brought my Grinchy inspired (need a name for this) with me since it was a mindless knitting project perfect for chatting and knitting.

Shop Stuff

I've been really busy with new things for The Knitting Hutch.

Eureka!!! For the past 3-4 moths I've been searching for the perfect set of blocking wires to carry in the shop as well as a user and admin friendly shopping cart.

Blocking wires - I've found them!
Take it Personally has a wonderful blocking kit that I've placed an initial order for and I can't wait to give them a try on the Hypotenuse. They should arrive in a day or two and will retail for $24.00. The kit includes: 12 large (32 1/2" long) straight wires, 2 flexible wires, 20 nickel-plated T-pins and yard stick.

Shopping Cart software located!!! Boy this was harder than it should have been. There are literally hundreds of Paypal enabled shopping carts out there but who has the time to effectively evaluate all of them. Well, I've found one - ZenCart. This was one of the first carts I looked at but I was so hung up on wanting something that I could populate directly from Quickbooks POS without having to enter in each product one by one. After looking at many carts it was apparent that this wasn't possible and if it was you would still have to go back and add in pictures and other attributes one by one so I gave up on that requirement. I went back and looked at ZenCart with a new perspective and knew it was the one. It utilized a mySql database on my hosted site and php scripts. Hey I know this stuff... how perfect. I downloaded, installed, picked a template and now at the tedious point of fine tuning the configuration settings and entering all the products. I'm targeting a 1/1/08 roll-out. I'll be busy, busy, busy over the holiday break... oh yeah, I'm doing this for my dad's fly fishing online store as well.
So here's some initial screen shots of the shop. I'll give more details of the features and goodies as this progresses.

What do you like/dislike in an online knitting shop?

Happy Honeybee

2007-11-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

As I promised I will share with you how fixed the two mistakes on the Honeybee.
while blocking I saw that there was a dropped stitch in the last section before the border on each end of the stole. Fortunately through gentle washing and non aggressive blocking these didn't get too far and didn't require much in the way of laddering back up the complicated lace pattern.

I caught the lose stitch and pulled through the yarn from the row above using a small crochet hook. Basic dropped stitch repair method... nothing fancy here.

Then I took a short piece of the same yarn and threaded it through stitches on the row it belonged on as well as the loose stitch and continued on weaving it through that same row.
Kinda fudging a little but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Then to finish I wove in the ends of the scrap yarn and trimmed.

Not too bad considering.

Then when I finished repairing both of the dropped stitches I did a final photo shoot.

and now for the money shot ;-)

I just love everything about this stole. The yarn, drape, color, size, various patterns.
I won't kid you by saying this was a piece of cake. This really was my most challenging project to date but I am so happy with it and loved wearing it on Thanksgiving.

Final details.

Pattern: Anne (Knitspot) Honeybee stole
Size: Petite size ... not the tall.
Yarn: Habu Tsumugi Silk in the Curry colorway (3 cones)
Needles: US4 Hiya Hiya circs

Oh, and I just finished the Hypotenuse scarf for my brother-in-law.
Just need to weave in the ends, wash and block. I'll share pictures when it is done.
Let's just say this is a perfect holiday gift project.

2007-11-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

Projects, projects and more projects.

Honeybee has landed. As planned I finished my honeybee stole last Thursday evening and when I returned home on Sunday I washed and blocked it. I took some not terribly pretty pictures of it being blocked but of course they are still in my camera and not uploaded yet. I'll do that tonight and edit to add. While blocking I found 2 boo boo's. They are both in the last section and on both ends and strangely in roughly the same row... don't know what was going on there. When I carefully lift it from being blocked I'll fix them and we'll be off for our first flight of the honeybee tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I'll also post photos either tomorrow or Friday of it during the fix and ready for it's debut along with the summation and review of this latest project. How's that for a few mixed metaphors ;-)

Hypotenuse happenings. I took this with me this weekend to Sacramento to work on and it's over the halfway point. This really is the perfect project for the last minute (week or so) holiday gift. Looks like I should have this one ready for blocking this weekend which will leave me free to focus on the Juno Regina stole which I haven't worked on since the initial cast on and repeats. More pictures coming soon.

More Projects ...
Oh, and I cast on the Grinchy Grouchy socks... I couldn't help myself... pics later this week.

Things have been pretty busy at The Knitting Hutch. I swear the Habu kits are going out as quickly as they come in and sometimes faster than they come in. These really are great kits and I enjoy making them too. I'm hoping to catch up on the New Arrivals page this weekend in between starting to decorate for Christmas and of course a little knitting.

Thanksgiving Day plans. Each year we rotate who will be hosting which holiday and this year it is my niece Samantha and her husband David's turn for Thanksgiving. This is great
as it means less driving (they live in Hollister too) and less cooking (well, not really since her oven is on the fritz and I'll be cooking that for her). I'll also be making my family's favorite carrots with bacon and fresh cranberry sauce. Check back tomorrow for pictures and recipes. I'll also be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. This along with spending time with my family and eating is what makes the day fun. I really enjoy this time of year and the opportunity to stop and reflect on everything that the year has brought so far. Some good and some not so good but there's always something to be found in all of these to be thankful for... to be continued tomorrow.

What are your plans for the Turkey (or Turkey substitute) Day?

Starts and Finishes

2007-11-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's been a wonderful, wet weekend here and I've basically stayed in and puttered around the house getting caught up on things and of course knitting.

I never posted a final set of pictures of the pair of Traveling Pumpkin Vine Socks so here they are. I wore them on Halloween with a pair of mules I found that I love... fun!

Much progress made on the Honeybee stole and I will post pictures when it's completed this week.

I also came down with a severe case of 'startitis' and just had to start 2 new projects.

The first one is all Miriam's fault. This week knitty.com posted 3 'surprise' patterns for Fall and one of them is from Miriam.

The Juno Regina Stole

I'm using 6 balls of the darkish brown Fingering weight alpaca by Frog Tree I just got in.

It is a fairly simple asymetrical stole and I'm enjoying it.

The other item is Anne's Hypotenuse scarf that will be a Christmas gift for my brother-in-law.

I'm using some Cascade 220 in Jet Black that I had in my stash. Really simple and quick pattern that would work with any worsted or even sport weight wool.

Do you also find yourself coming down with a case of startitis with Fall here?

I'm back...

2007-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Well I'm back and I've been meaning to post since I returned home on Saturday evening.
I'm finally caught up on housework, shop work and work work and am taking time to post a few highlights.

It was really interesting staying in my Grandmother's house last week while I was at a class for work. I was able to enjoy a relatively short commute of 25 minutes compared to my usual 1.5 hours each way. The class was very good and I've been busily applying what I learned this week which totally makes it worth it. One of my goals while there was to 'stage' all the Christmas decorations that were all boxed up in the garage through out the 1st floor in preparation for a Holiday Boutique we're doing on the 17th. Boy howdie there are a lot of Christmas items... a lot of which we hadn't seen before. I'll be taking pictures of the boutique and will share those after that event. So if you happen to be in the Sacramento (Florin) area on Saturday Nov. 17 stop on by.... email me for details.

There was knitting last week as well. I completed the Traveling Pumpkin Vine socks just in time to wear for Halloween (pictures and final details this weekend).
Great progress made on the Honeybee Stole too! As of last night I am on the 6th repeat of the bee swarm section ... Translation - I'm on the home stretch and still on schedule to have this puppy (um bee) done for Thanksgiving. but wouldn't you know Miriam goes and has another wonderful stole published today on knitty.com (Juno Regina) and I will be up really late tonight casting this one on (see below what I'll be using).

Shop News:

New Yarn - Frog Tree Alpaca in Fingering Weight. I received a shipment of this in 10 colorways. The one below is Aubergine and is a really pretty, soft purple. This is what I'll be using for my Juno Regina Stole.

Yarn Restocks - There was also a shipment from Claudia to restock a few popular colorways of fingering, sport and lace silks.

New FUN items:

I've seen these tape measures around and thought they were so cute and had to get them in.

There are 5 different designs in stock and I'll have the page up by this weekend.

Have a Happy Friday tomorrow!

On the road again...

2007-10-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well I'm off for another weekend at my grandmother's house to clear out more and set up for the Christmas Boutique. psst. if you're in the Sacramento area the weekend of November 10Th and need to add to your Christmas decorating stash come on by (email me for info). I picked this weekend because it just so happens I have an Oracle database class in Sacramento this week so just works out perfectly. Oh and speaking of email I'm not sure if I will have Internet connectivity this week but will try my best.

Shipping Delay.... I will be away from the shop from Friday 10/26 through 11/2 and will be shipping orders received during the week on Saturday 11/3. Thanks !

Have a wonderful weekend ... and week.

I feel a contest coming on

2007-10-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon ... A Contest!

Well, I'm here working on my Honeybee stole and Traveling Pumpkin Vine socks and they don't look much different than the last set of pictures. Ok, the second sock does look different than the start of the toe section but you know what I mean. I was emailing a friend (waves to blogless Brooke) and she sparked an idea for a contest.

The basic idea is I would love to have pictures of the wonderful projects my customers have made. Concept ... you submit pictures of your projects made with the yarns or patterns purchased from The Knitting Hutch and for each photo you will have an entry in the drawing.
There will be 3 or more prizes drawn and yes some (if not all) of the prizes will be yarn and they will be great. I will be working out the details over the next week or two and posting here as well as sending a special newsletter.

So watch this space or if you're on my mailing list for the newsletter for details and date for the drawing. In the meantime start taking pictures of your projects both completed and in progress. No projects yet... well get shopping and get busy ;-)

New Book - New Pathways for Sock Knitters

I just got this one today from Amazon.com. I love Cat's designs ... she is a friggin genius!
However, I'm not sure how I'll take to this but I am willing explore where she's going with full trust. She didn't fail to enthral me with the Mobeius and her concise directions for knitting in the round with 2 circs which is the staple of my circular knitting diet.

My first glance through this confirmed what I had read on Ravelry and KR; that this isn't something you read, pickup and start knitting in 10 minutes but really needs to be approached methodically and trusting fully in her guidance. That said, I want to wait to start this adventure until after I've cleared the decks of some of the WIPs laying around my family room. Truth be told I really, really like my no thinking about it toe up sock recipe with plug and play patterning on the instep and leg and part of me isn't sure how I'll take to a very new way of approaching sock knitting.

Cat does show us that there is a different way of defining the 'parts' or 'anatomy' of a sock but not a total paradigm shift as I had expected and that's OK. The other thing about the book I noticed is there are nice detailed instructions and tips/tricks; there are toe up as well as cuff down methods but again with a twist; and the best is it recognises that there are 3 types of sock knitters (dpns, 2 circs, or 1 long circ) and each pattern has instructions/guidance for all three. I can't believe with everything that is covered in this book that this is the first of a set of 3 (again she is amazing). So, if you feel you're in a sock knitting rut or just like a little challenge and love to try something new I would recommend this highly. Believe me ... I will share my experiences with the projects in this book when I do them.

Halfway and beyond

2007-10-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked not only reaching the halfway point on my 2 current projects OTN but getting just a little beyond.

Honeybee Stole - I reached the summit (aka first half) which is worked from the center back to the right border. Then on Saturday morning with plenty of natural light I picked up the provisional crochet cast on stitches and was ready to work my way down the other side of this hill. Tonight I should finish the 2nd of 7 repeats in the first section.

Here's a couple pictures of this with the dress that I have planned to wear for Thanksgiving.

I bought it while on a site visit to Big Sur for the Lace in the Woods '08 retreat. It was on sale at The Phoenix which is a wonderful shop at Nepenthe. Not only did I know this dress would be perfect but it was on sale too!

Speaking of Lace in the Woods '08. Spots are filling up so if you're thinking about joining us for a lace knitting frenzy with Anne, Miriam, Susan and Cookie you might want to sign up now.

I also have someone interested in sharing a cottage to split the cost of lodging. Info here...

Traveling Pumpkin Vine Socks - One down and another started

On Saturday night I finished the first sock and Sunday morning immediately cast on for the mate. Love this pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. It has enough going on to keep you interested but memorizable too.

No full frontal shots until the mate is done ;-)

For the cuff I did the recommended k1p1 rib for 11 rows and finished it off with a picot bind off.

I love the frilly picot which won't be that frilly when worn. I think this detail works well with the movement of the pattern in the sock. Tonight I'll be finishing up the first repeat of the instep on the mate so these should be ready in time for Halloween next week with no problem.

21st Century Living Fun Observations

2007-10-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

I know this has been around for say over 7.5 years now but it makes me laugh just the same and thought I'd share it with you ... along with my 'answers'.

21st Century Living
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
No, I've never done this one and I have over 2 dozen passwords personal and work.

2. You haven't played Solitaire with real cards in years.
It has been a long time since I've played Solitaire with playing cards but
I've played 21 with my son with real playing cards so that something.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
Actually, my parents each have only one phone number each.
My son (none) but his father one.
So, again not quite fitting this albeit exaggerated example.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
Nope, I walk down the hall unless it's something I need to document or need them to save.
Besides, I need an excuse to raid the candy jar, right? Say, I'll be right back ;-)

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
Actually, I've not been big on 'writing' family and friends. I much rather call them at one of their 5 phone numbers .

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
Nope, I just carry them all in myself.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
Well, of course they do. How else are we going to find them ;-)

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
Oh, yes ... I have done this and now go through a mental checklist of my purse before leaving the house.

10.You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
Absolutely!!!!

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
Ok, now that is funny

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
At some of them. Others are obviously an exaggeration.... but still fun.

13. Even worse. you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
Oh, no I never, ever forward 'for fun' emails.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
No, I noticed

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't #9 on this list.
Nope, see #14.

AND......NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.

Ok, so how do you rate with the 21st Century?

Milestone Monday

2007-10-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's Tuesday but late last night I hit two knitting project milestones.
One major and one small but a milestone none the less.

Honeybee Stole ~ 50%
Last night I finally hit the halfway mark on this project. I love this project!
Each section has really challenged me and once I get into the rhythm of that section it's time to start on a new one and get into the groove of that one. I've knit lace with subtle and and sporadic patterning on the 'wrong side' but this is the first one with virtually equal patterning on both sides. Even though it seems like this is taking me longer than the other lace projects I've done I really like taking my skills to the next level and the end product is so worth it.
Tonight I will be picking up stitches from the provisional cast on and starting it all over again for the other side of this amazing stole. It was late when I reached this 'milestone' and not ideal lighting for taking a photo but I will take one this weekend. I'll even do one with it cozying up with the dress that I think is a perfect match.

Traveling Pumpkin Vine Socks ~ A heel has turned
Yesterday morning I had the first sock toe and instep all done (4 repeats.... love having a size 5.5 foot) and ready to start the short row heel. I knew this would be perfect to take with me to my eye appointment to start the heel while waiting for my eye exam. Just as expected I was able to easily do complete the first half of the heel before they called me in and last night sailed through reversing the short row up the back side of the heel... I even started the first repeat of the leg pattern. Love this yarn (Socks That Rock , colorway (Rocky Horror) and the pattern (Traveling Vine). This is a really quick one that I shouldn't have a problem finishing in time for Halloween.
Since a turned heel isn't that terribly photo worthy I'll wait until this one is done for the next photo op.

All for now I guess.

New Things

2007-10-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a little image heavy post. Thought I'd catch you up on the new things here at Chez Knitting Hutch ..

UPS was good to me yesterday and today.

New Books and Calendar

Today I received my latest Amazon order with 3 goodies.
2 books (A Gathering Of Lace and Lace Style) - I'll post my thoughts on these later this week.
and then a knitting daily calendar - 365 Knitting Stitches a Year.

I've been looking for the perfect knitting calendar for the past couple years and have been underwhelmed. Now I think I've found it!!! It's stitches and only stitches... no other items of the day that you don't want. For me this will be the perfect inspiration for sock stitch patterns.
I typically use my favorite toe up method for socks and plug in what I feel is the perfect stitch pattern for the color. The other fantastic thing about this daily calendar is that it's perpetual.
No year or day of week so it can be used indefinitely.

New Socks on the needles.

Speaking of socks.... I have a New sock on the needles.
Traveling Pumpkin Vines Socks.

A couple of weeks ago in a weak moment I was on the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website
looking at all their colors for lightweight sock yarns and I saw it!!!
Rocky Horror!!! I have been waiting for them to bring this one back for awhile now and here it is. A fun combination of oranges and browns.... Perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving (Ok all of Fall) socks. Another reason I had to have this one is during my Senior year of High School ('79) I went to the midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show every weekend with friends.
So you see I HAD to have this one.

Last night I was looking through my More Sensational Knitted Socks book for a 4 or 8 stitch pattern for this on and found the Traveling Vines pattern and just seemed perfect for this pumpkiny colorway. I love it... what do you think. I'm already halfway through the instep on the first sock and it's zooming along nicely. Shouldn't have any problem having these done in time for Halloween ;-)

New progress on the Honeybee Stole. I have been faithfully (until last night, see above) working on this one since I started it 3 weeks ago. I'm on the 3rd repeat of 5 in the Bee and Honeycomb section with the border remaining. Then I'll pick up the stitches held by the provisional cast-on and do it all again for the other side. This should be done in time for Thanksgiving with a little time to spare.

Oh, and I also ordered the Grinchy colorway too. What can I say... that is my all time favorite Christmas movie ever. I'll share that one when it jumps on the needles after a few other things are completed (see above and below).

New Honeybee Stole progress

Close up of the Bee and Honeycomb section below.

Closeup of the Bee Swarm section
(It'll look like something after it's blocked I'm sure.

New Products at The Knitting Hutch

UPS delivery yesterday was great.... Habu and Frog Tree

The Habu delivery included not only restocks of a couple colors of Tsumugi Silk and the Silk Lunch Bag kits but some new yarns and kits as well.
New Yarns - A-25 Chenille Cork and A-107 Feather Moire
I ordered these for a customer who's using them together to make a wedding shawl.
New Kits - Kusha Kusha Scarf Kit in assorted colorways. This is a fun felted wool and silk stainless steel scarf. If you've ever wanted to try the Habu silk stainless steel this is a perfect way to play with this yarn by Habu.

Have a wonderful week

Happy Autumnal Equinox

2007-09-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Day of Autumn!!! This is my favorite season of all.

I love the crisp mornings, first rains and the amazing lighting.

Honeybee Stole ...
I started my Honeybee Stole which I hope to have completed in time to wear for Thanksgiving. The pattern is from the ever amazing Anne and yarn is of course my favorite Habu Tsumugi Silk in the Curry color. How perfect is this for a fall stole?

I found the best way to work with the small cones of silk is to use a bread basket with loop type handles and place a bamboo dowel through the cone and handles. This allows the cone to spin freely while you're working.

Here's a closeup of the behive section.

and the obligatory backside. This shows the closeup of the provisional caston. I did a crochet caston directly on the needle (US 4) with plain cotton crochet thread as waste yarn.

I have this pattern and yarn available as a kit here.

More Fall Fun!!!

At The Knitting Hutch I've created a fun make your own sock kit perfect for those socks we love to wear in the Fall and Winter. I call it Socktacular Sock Kits. There is a selection of 8 sock patterns by Anne and Miriam combined with a selection of 3 sock yarns. Classic Solids by jojoland, Vareigated by jojoland and Hand Painted by Claudia. You select your pattern and then your yarn and color and there you have a build your own sock kit.

What do you love about Autumn?

So what's new?

2007-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

There's a few new things here today...

New FO - Stola Dimun Stole.... Done!!! It's bathed, blocked, beautiful and very, very big.

This turned out to be really large after blocking. I used US 8's to get a loose stitch and open eylets which made it larger than expected. But, the good thing is that this is exactly what my mom wanted. It will be perfect to wrap around herself while in the chemo recliner. Now if I did need to take this in a bit I would felt it slightly by washing in the washer with a large towel on warm water then not block agresively but just gently pull into shape.
I will be making more of these but will go down to US 6 or 7's.

New project OTN - Hemlock Ring Blanket. I shared a picture of this in the last blog and I'm zooming along on this project. This is a wonderful pattern and I'm looking forward to using this on the cold autumn and winter nights. As of this moment I'm already on round 76 of 121 ... but don't worry this is slowing down as the rounds increase. I'm guessing I should complete this by the end of next weekend and have it blocked by the end of the month. But, don't worry as I mentioned I have another project in the wings.

New yarns and stole kit in the shop ...

New Stole kit... Anne of Knitspot Fiber Lounge has done it again! Here's the Twinings Stole kit combining her pattern with Habu Tsumugi Silk.

New Yarn Collection ...

I am really excited about this new collection. One of my customers introduced me to this amazing knitwear and yarn designer and I knew I must try to include this one in the shop.

This collection includes a lovely linen cotton blend, mist slub and rag in several coordinating colorways. I was also fortunate to be able to take a class from her at Stitches West back in February.

So what's new in your knitting world?

It's Done!!!

2007-09-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

I am soooo pleased!!! I finished my Mom's chemo Shawl the Stora Dimun shawl from Folk Shawls this morning ... right on schedule. It's blocking right now and I tried it on before blocking and the fit and drape are just amazing. I will do a photo shoot this week before sending it to her later in the week so it will arrive for the first day of Autumn. I will definately be making more of this one it is perfect and much better than any sweater.

Just some details....

Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca in Sport weight in color #402 which is a lovely, dusty sage green. I used all 10 balls (50 gram) with just half of the last one left.

Needles: US 8 Denise Interchangeables with a 52" cable. These allowed me to really stretch it out as I went along.

Stitch Markers: 4 very cute kitty stitch markers for the borders and gusset. I don't usually use markers but they did come in handy on this project.

The crochet cast on created a very nice edging that makes most of the perimeter of the shawl and would do it on future Dimun shawls.

Ok, so now what's next you ask.... Jarred's Hem lock Ring Blanket. Isn't it stunning? I saw his on his blog and knew even before the wildly popular KAL that I would be making one of these for the back of my sofa. I'm using, like Jarred, the Cascade Eco Wool. I ordered 3 very large skeins just in case. The colorway is Antique (8019) and I love it. This is starting as a very quick knit with a magic cast on for a tight center belly button. I'm again using my Denise Interchangeables (US 10) with 2 sets (one for each half). Blue cable is the first half and the pink cable is the second half. I am already finished with the first 47 rounds and getting ready for the fan and feather repeats which means I'm moving right along. I hope to have this one done in a week or two.

More 'deadline' projects. After the Hemlock Ring Blanket I will be starting my Honeybee Stole by Anne in Tsumugi silk (curry colorway). This will be my Thanksgiving stole and will be perfect with the dress I picked up at Nepenthe/Phoenix in Big Sur on Labor Day. Then I will get back on the MS3 (Swan Lake) stole which I plan on wearing for Christmas. There will also be a couple Christmas gift projects in there as well.

Have a wonderful week!

It's amazing what you can accomplish

2007-09-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

You know when you are monogomas to a project it is thrilling what you can accomplish.

I've been faithful to my mom's Stora Dimun Shawl and only working on it and I'm currently well over half way through the number of rows. Since the rows get increasingly shorter I estimate that I'm about 2/3rds there. These are pictures from last Sunday and currently I'm already on row 95 of 176.

Interesting construction. Working your way in from the outer border and up the center back panel. The Denise Interchangeable Needles make it really easy to stretch this one out to get a sense of size.

Very long rows with the lace border.

Lace detail in garter stitch

I'm using my set of 4 kitty stitch markers for the borders and center panel. This little one reminds me that I'm starting a right side (decrease) row.

Well I'm off to Sacramento for another weekend of clearing out my grandmother's house.

See ya Sunday. Oh, and there will be new yarn, needles, patterns and kits coming Sunday night or Monday.

Friday Yarn Trivia and Art

2007-08-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week at work and home. My house is still trashed with items I brought back from my grandmother's house last weekend. Bags and bags, Boxes and Boxes of fabric, lace and assorted sewing items. 35 porcelain dolls she and my grandfather made and lottsa roosters and chickens she collected. I'll share photo's another time.

I saw an article on Yahoo about scientists uncovering da Vinci's painting techniques and one of the paintings Maddona of the Yarnwinder. Now how cool is that? Of course I had to find a picture of this painting to show you.

Here's Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder

from wikipedia -
The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (c. 1501) is the subject of several oil paintings after a lost original by Leonardo da Vinci. They depict the Virgin Mary with the Christ child, who looks longingly at a yarnwinder which the Virgin is using to spin some yarn. The yarnwinder serves as a symbol both of the Mary's domesticity and the Cross on which Christ was crucified and may also suggest the Fates, understood in classical mythology as spinners.

I hope to blog again some time this weekend as I do have a lot more to share.

Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend for my friends in the US.

Mom's Chemo Shawl (Stora Dimun)

2007-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yes I started yet another shawl but there's a really good reason ... yeah, like I need one ;-)

When I was visiting my mom in Seattle she asked if I would make her a shawl that she could wrap around her to keep warm while getting her chemo treatment, and of course I said yes. She then went on to describe how she'd like it to look and sketched the shape. Basically a triangle with rounded corners and pockets. The color would be a sage green which is both of our favorite color. We laughed at her sketch and said it looked like a jock strap and I proceeded to draw up a different design with her wishes and we both liked it and I would try to go ahead and design this shawl. Well after a week of contemplation and swatching I realized that I was wasting vauable knitting time since I had a self imposed completion date of the Autumnal Equinox (9/23) so that she would have it to wear all Fall and Winter. I went to KR and posted a thread asking if anyone knew of a pattern that fit the required shape and several came back with 'look in Folk Shawl's'. Well that was a big, huge duh moment. My very favorite everyday type shawl book in the world of course there would be at least one in there. Sure enough there was... the very first one. Stora Dimun Shawl inspired by Norway.

The thing about this shawl is the construction is very different. You cast on stitches for just about the entire perimeter of the shawl.... 449 stitches. So I got busy and did a crochet cast on of 449 stitches. Wow, that's a lot of casting on. But the upside is that as you decrease in the 4 corners you have fewer and fewer stitches as you move along. I really like the clean but streachy edge the crochet cast on gives and now on to knitting. This really is what I'd consider a mindless knitting project with garter stitch, decreases and a fairly simple lace section that is both charted and written.

I'm only using 4 stitch markers to mark the 8 stitch border on each end and the 25 stitch center panel.

You probably would like the details now. I'm using Frog Tree Alpaca Sport weight in Sage (13) and I estimate it will take about 7 balls. I'm currently on my 3rd ball. Needles: Denise Interchangeable size US 8 with a long cable.

Here it is where I left it last night begining of row 33 of 175. Not bad... I should have this finished in plenty of time for Fall.

This is currently my priority project and I do have self imposed deadlines for the others in my life but we'll get to that another time.

I'll be taking this with me to Sacramento today. Gotta help continue clearing out my grandma's house.

... back on Sunday.

What I did on my summer vacation

2007-08-20T18:30:00.001-07:00

I had the best summer vacation. August 2 - 10th I went to Seattle.

Spent time with family and friends in one of my favorite cities Seattle.

Had plenty of time to hang out with my sister Annette and her husband Mark.

I'm on the left and she's in the foreground on the right.

I was able to spend a couple days with my mom which was great and she even suprised me with a request for a shawl which I'll tell you about tommorrow.

My sister and her husband have a wonderful home just a block and a half off of Lake Washington near Steward Park.
These were paddling by as we walked down to the pits and park where the vendors were the whole weekend. One of the reasons I went up when I did is because of Sea Fair (hydroplane races) On Friday, after a wonderful breakfast, we spent the morning down there watching the Red Baron do arial acrobatics and the amazing Blue Angels do their thing.

Another shot from the point near the pits and the park. On Sea Fair Saturday my sister and her husband have a open house and it was great seeing friends and having a great time.

On Sunday friends invited us down to the marina to have a picnic and watch the arieal show again.

Other things Annette and I got to do was see the Kubota Japanese Gardens which were beautiful and I got loads of great pictures.

Seattle Underground

The other big thing we were able to do for the first time was to take the Seattle Underground Tour which was really fun (and touristy).

Pioneer Square Glass Gazebo

Skylights. These were installed when the street level was raised creating the 'underground' and even after all this time they do an incredible job of providing light. You can see due to the mineral content in this 'antique' glass combined with sun (yes they do see the sun sometimes) they've turned a very pretty purple.

Antique and bookstore from the underground.

The tour was a little pricey and very touristy but fun and worth the 90 mins of brief Seattle history.

hmmm, knitting content. Well I did finish my Little Bunny Foo Foo Monkey's and started the Footzey Foo Monkeys as well and worked on the Icarus while on vaca. See previous post for pics. Tomorrow I'll share my newest and highest priority project of the moment.

Hope you all are having the best Summer.

Project Updates and Introduction

2007-08-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Socks, socks and more socks. Yes I am back in love with knitting socks and am maintaining the quota of at least 2 sock projects on the needles at all times
Hey, hey we're the Monkeys ....
While on vacation in Seattle I finished my very first pair of Monkeys. I love them! They were done according to Cookie's pattern. Cuff down and a gusset flap heel.

Other Stats
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in Little Bunny Foo Foo
Needles: Addi Turbo US 1

Ok, there was 1 modification. I did 5 repeats on the leg instead of 6. On the instep I needed only 4 repeats for my size 5.5 foot.

Here's the next Monkey. This one is Footzey Foo and again Socks that Rock Lightweight. This one I'm using my generic sock recipe.

Toe up using Magic Cast on technique found on knitty.com and short row heel. So basically I'm just using Cookie's stitch pattern and inserting it into my favorite method for toe up socks. Still using 4 repeats for the instep and 5 for the leg as well as the twisted k1p1 ribbing at the cuff.

Love this Monkey pattern by Cookie (also on knitty.com) and will surely be making more.

Another picture of Footzey Foo

and together with Little Bunny Foo Foo.

Introduction to Icarus

Now you're probably wondering if I've lost the love for shawls. Well not exactly. Just before I left for Seattle; actually it was the day the Handmaiden Camel Spin arrived. I just couldn't resist casting on Mariam's Icarus shawl in the Bronze colorway. It just seemed like the perfect combination of pattern and color. I also love the way it matches the sewing bag my Grandma Ramona made back in the mid-30's. Right now I'm on the 4th of 7 repeats before I start the ends of the feathers. Even though this is a very easy repeat and a great TV project it's getting to be slow going due to the increasing number of stitches.

Want to know more about the myth of Icarus here is a Wikipedia.org article on it.

Tomorrow an update on my trip to Seattle and maybe another sock.

So much to catch up on

2007-08-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been nearly 3 weeks now since I've posted ... the shame ;-)
I'm going to just give highlights and do pictures and details throughout the week.
Let's see what's been happening since we last met ...

Ravelry *** I'm In!!! I received my Ravelry invite! WOOT!! You can find me there as jrhutch. Now to get busy and enter projects, stash, needles, queue and so on.

WIPs - Another quick update with pictures and details coming later.

Monkey Sock(s) - Finished the Little Bunny Foo Foo and just turned the heel on my second one with Footsey Foo. I loooove Socks that Rock and loooove this free pattern by Cookie A. I flipped my second pair in footsey foo by doing it toe up with my favorite short row toe and heel style.
MS3 Stole - Love this project ... oh and the theme is 'Swan Lake' complete with a wing. I'm still back on clue 4 (kinda caught the monkey sock bug) but will be back to this one soon and will share pictures.
Icarus Shawl - You're probably saying 'where did that one come from?'. Well my order of HandMaiden Camel Spin came in the last week of July, I saw the Bronze colorway and looked at this pattern from Miriam of mimknits and I knew I was a perfect match. I'm currently out of this colorway already but will be restocking it for sure.
VLT French Trellis Scarf/Stole - Well this one is still in time out. Not so much because I don't have a solution figured out for the knitted on border but because, well you see the ones above ;-) It also will be back in progress soon I promise as I do have a plan and I am a project type knitter that has to have projects completed.
Twisted Flowers Socks - Well this one went to the frog pond. I decided it needed a more subtle pattern for this fun, brightly colord Koigu. Looking through More Sensational Knitted Socks for the perfect stitch pattern. When I do decide to use this pattern I will use a solid colorway.
Kimono Shawl - This poor beauty has been out of progress for quite a while now. The yarn (Sea Silk) is so very nice to work with and I really enjoy this pattern from Folk Shawls. I think I just couldn't get into working with black with all this beautiful weather. This will be a Fall/Winter completion project.

Well, that went a little longer than expected but wanted to give a brief project status update. I promise more details and pictures soon.

Vacation (Seattle, WA) - August 2-10

I had a wonderful time visiting my sister, brother-in-law and mom in Seattle. Details and pictures coming soon!!!

Lace in the Woods 08 - This retreat is coming along nicely. I'm working with Leah at go-Monkey Designs on the goodie bags. Anne, Cookie A, Miriam and Susan are busy on their classes. I still need to go back down there and work on logistics.... maybe that will be a Labor Day excursion ;-)

Shop News - New yarn, needles, kits, patterns ...

Honeybee Stole pattern and kits are now available with Claudia Handpainted Silk and Habu Tsumugi Silk end of next week. This is the long awaited pattern by Anne at Knitspot Fiber Lounge and I am so excited to be able to offer this pattern and even more excited about the kits with my favorite silks from Claudia and Habu. The full Shawl pattern and kit should be available sometime in November.

Claudia Silk Lace just came in while I was gone. 2 new colorways Honey and Marigold and they are already going quickly.

Habu Tsumugi Silk should be coming in next week which includes the popular Whiskey and White colorways along with come new ones.

Coming Soon! I'm in the process of putting together sock kits. These will be collections of sock patterns designed by Anne, Cookie and Miriam combined with sock yarns from Claudia Hand Painted and Jojoland. These should be available along with HijaHiya sock needles this Saturday.

Patiently awaiting an invite

2007-07-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

A while back I heard tell of this wonderful new knitting site where you can share with other knitting folks, search for new project ideas and get yourself organized. Well I knew I could use a little of all of those so I signed up. Since this is in beta mode they are (wisely) only handing out a small percentage of invites per day. So here I am waiting for that special email telling me I am now invited to join into Ravelry. These two are so cool they've even put up a page where you can check for yourself when exactly it was you signed on for this, where you are in line, now many are in front of you and behind you in line and the percentage that have received an invitation. As of today there are 'only' 1665 in front of me which at the rate invites go out I could get mine in under 2 weeks now. Guess I should get busy inventorying yarn, needles, books, patterns, notions and such... hmmm, maybe I need more time ;-)

Found you!
You signed up on June 12, 2007
You are #8516 on the list.
1665 people are ahead of you in line.
12133 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far

Have you been Ravelry'd yet? If so let me know so I can find you there too.

Yes, I still knit ;-)

2007-07-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm still here and still knitting away... along with working, filling orders and so on.

Mystery Stole 3 ~ I'm quickly becoming one of the "Slow Bee's".

I haven't picked this one up in a week and still finishing up clue 4 came out last Friday.
Fortunately Clue 5 doesn't come out until next Friday so i have just over a week to catch up.
In the meantime here's some lovely pics of MS3 in progress. I really am loving this project and know I will like this more than I ever thought.

Gratuitous Bead Shot Detail of what we don't know yet.

It's a Monkey ~ The Little Bunny Foo Foo Monkey socks are coming along and is mostly why I'm falling behind on MS3. Sock one completed and on the 4th of 9 repeats on the second. Sorry for the bad picture ... took it last night and not enough light. This is quickly replacing Falling Leaves from knitty.com as my favorite sock pattern for hand dyed sock yarns. It is also a freebie from our friends at knitty.com.

New Arrivals This Week! I will be getting my order of Camel Spin from Handmaiden Yarns as well as more Sea Silk in Ivory and Ocean. Camel Spin is 300 m of 70% Silk and 30% Baby Camel. There will be 5 introductory colors of this amazing yarn and can't wait to dream up a project/kit for this one. Finally getting more of the 2 popular colorways of Sea Silk in (Ivory and Ocean). They sold like hotcakes the first time around.

Lace in the Woods ~ I've placed a group hold on cottages to help ensure everyone can get a reservation ... and spaces are filling up so reserve your spot soon! Hope to see you there.

10 days and no posting

2007-07-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse ... just caught up with work, knitting and life I guess.

The Donna's Favorites Chevron socks are done and I love them.

Recap ~

Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Fingering Weight in Donna's Favorites from my online shop.
Needles: Addi Turbos (2 circs) size US1 (don't remember where I purchased these from).
Pattern: Ribbed Feather Chevron from Sensational Knitted Socks from my library :-)
Method: Toe Up (magic caston from knitty.com), Short Row heal, 6 row garter cuff used in pattern.

Thoughts ... I love this pattern! It was very simple to memorize and read your knitting and I really enjoyed the way it worked with this colorway and will definitely use it again.

I started another sock using this pattern using Opal Rainforest Flamingo and that bird will be visiting the frog pond soon and I'll find another 'flat' pattern for that one. I didn't like the way it was turning out and for that much finer sock weight I am getting over 10 stitches per inch and even with a size 5.5 shoe size I'll need probably 72 stitches.

Another sock was cast on and I am in love again. It's Cookie A's Monkey from Knitty.com. I know I'm coming late to that party. The yarn is .... Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock 'Little Bunny Foo Foo'. I love it!! Who knew a bunny could make such a beautiful monkey ;-)

I just turned the heel and the patter is fantastic. This colorway couldn't pool or flash if you tried with this pattern. I see a whole warren of bunny/monkeys in my future

Mystery Stole 3 Progress Report ~~~~

Clue 3 was released yesterday as scheduled and I'm up to row 157 of 200 and will work on it tonight. I love this project and Melanie's patterns so much that I purchased the pattern and yarn for Haname and joined that knit-a-long for that one too. I hope to finish Clue 3 tonight and post pictures tomorrow.

Happy Independance Day

2007-07-04T08:02:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July! I will be off at my sisters enjoying time with family, food and fireworks.

Just a shot of some Red, White and Blue Jojoland fingering weight.

I'm hoping to turn the heal of my Donna's Favorite Feathered Ribbed sock today and finish it off before Friday when MS3 Clue 2 is released. Then there is the French Trellis final border to get back to .... I do have a plan of attack but just need to get to it.

On July 2nd, 1961 ....

2007-07-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I turned 46 yesterday ;-)

I was born at an US Military (Air Force) hospital in Iwakuni, Japan.
My dad was a radio operator on planes for the Navy and my mom went over with him.
His enlistment time was up when I turned 3 months and we came back to the states (Sacramento, CA).
I was raised in Santa Clara, CA and consider myself a native Californian despite being born abroad.

Here's some fun facts for July 2nd that I found on Wikipedia.org

Events

1776 - John Hancock signs Declaration of Independence
1950 - Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Japan was burned down.
1983 - The Police release their final album, "Synchronicity", which would eventually spend 17 weeks at #1 on the U.S. album chart

Births

419 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor (d. 455)
1925 - Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist (d. 1963)
1986 - Lindsay Lohan, American actress
and a whole bunch of baseball players ;-)

Deaths

1566 - Nostradamus, French astrologer (b. 1503)
1937 - Amelia Earhart, American aviator (b. 1897)
1961 - Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899) (on my birthday)
1997 - Jimmy Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
and a whole bunch of actors/writers (hmmm?)

I also share my birthday with Canada (Canada Day)

It was a very nice day even though work was involved.

It's Christmas in July ! My sister in Seattle sent me some presents.

She knows how I love the glass bird ornaments that clip on and got me a set of 6 (above) and a really lovely larger one like the ones I already am collecting (below).

Then there were these adorable little glass butterfly ornaments that are just too cute.
and because she knows how I needed a toiletry travel bag there was one of those too!

My sister in Gilroy, CA gave me this wonderful soy bead and candle set that smells heavenly.

My dad got be this... how fun. Can't wait to load into iTunes and listen to this one.

It was a really nice day and wonder what this next year will bring.

... 97 ... 98 ... 99 ... 99 ... 100!

2007-07-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, You read right I had to tink row 99 all the way back to the beginning and start that last patterned row over. But Clue 1 is DONE and I LOVE it!!! Can't wait for clue 2 on Friday.

Guess I'll cast on the mate for my last sock.

Have a great week.

~ Dueling Stoles ~

2007-06-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Cue the theme from Deliverance ;-) Yes, I'm working on both the French French Trellis and the Mystery Stole at the same time. I well they are taking their turns I don't think I can replicate the part of the Deliverance theme where the banjos are playing at the same time {grin}.

Last night marked milestones on both projects. Frenchie has one more leaf insertion repeat to go before the last border begins,

and MS3 ~ Chart A (50 rows) completed.

I am loving this pattern! It's challenting enough to keep me interested and the non-patterned wrong side allows a nice pause and keeps it moving a long nicely. As of this moment I am on row 57 and should have Chart B (100 rows) Clue 1 completed and maybe even repeat 18 and starting the last border on Frenchie tomorrow. I still need to cast on for the mate to the Donna's Favorite Feathered Ribbed sock.

Mystery Stole 3 theme guesses continue and so far my 2 favorites are:

Mortica from Addams Family
Taj Majal

Here's a picture of the felted Moebius Jester/Tentacle bag from Cat Bordhi's book last year.
I call this my Morticia Bag. Made with Cascade 220 in Jett Black with antique pewter buttons for accent.

Well, back to some chores and knitting. I'll post again tomorrow with more pictures.

Mystery Stole ~ episode 1

2007-06-29T10:00:00.001-07:00

The mystery begins. Here is the first of what I think will be 7 - 8 installments of the Mystery Stole on Fridays. I pulled down Clue One early this morning and printed them off. However, I was hammered today with work and wasn't able to start casting on until 3pm PST. By 3:30 I had the 1st 16 rows completed. This is misleading since the journey stating on the bias and so the rows start out very short and build up. I can tell already though that I am going to love this project! The beading isn't as bad as I thought it would be since it's only done at either end of every 5th row in the beginning and added to the center later on.

Ok, I'm really excited now. Some in Europe have already completed the first clue (100 rows) and have posted their pictures. They are amazing and it's really fun to see how this pattern looks with different fibers and knitting tensions. I will post pictures at the halfway mark and completion of this clue (row 50 and 100).

This is really a treat and wonderful way to end a very stressful and busy work week.

Are you playing along with this mystery?

Have a wonderful weekend and look for the pictures tomorrow and a day or two after that.

Three for Thursday

2007-06-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well I can tell what kind of week I've had by the fact that I haven't blogged since Saturday.
Saturday? Jeez, where has the week gone? Oh, right busy preparing for MS3 tomorrow but more on that later.

Now for the Three Things Thursday

French Trellis update ~ I really am enjoying the center leaf insertion pattern and not overly anxious to attempt to turn the corner and do my first knitted on border. Maybe I'm doddling? ;-) Repeat 16 will be done easily tonight and I do plan on doing 2 extra repeats to make sure this wider than specs version keeps a similar proportion and I have just enough to do that. Nevermind that I'm cleaverly putting off the turning the corner and knitted border thing. Long story short ~ Won't finish before starting MS3 and no picture since it looks just like Saturday's picture just longer.
Two new items came in for the shop this week.

HiyaHiya Stainless Steel Circular needles in various sizes perfect for lace and socks on 2 circulars. I'm really liking them and they are a really good thrify alternative to the Addi Lace Turbos.

Then the order of Claudia Hand Painted Silk lace (5 new colors) arrived. From left to right: Crushed Velvet, Freesia, Moss, Blue Fields and Jungle. A really nice mix of bright and muticolored and subtle semi-solids. I've also exteded the sale on the Claudia silks and mohair through the end of July.

3. Preparations for Mystery Stole 3 are complete. All the necessary items are gathered and in place for tomorrow's release of the 1st clue. One final check.

* Yarn - 3 cones of Habu Tsumugi Silk in White ~ Check
* Needles: 1 24" Addi Turbo Lace ~ Check
* Beads: 2 colors from the BeadWrangler ~ Check
* Crochet hook: Size 13 for picking up and applying beads ~ Check
* Stitch markers ~ Check
* Notepad and pen ~ Check
* Glasses ~ Check

Ok, now for the first clue.

One last item to share... I got these adorable stitch markers that I ordered from
http://www.weeones.etsy.com. I just couldn't resist.