Tuesday, April 24, 2007

baby blanket





Tonight when I was at my knitting group, I was talking with a woman about a baby blanket I made. I made it in strips. Each block was 39 stitches by 50 rows, and when I finished one block, I just added the color for the next strip. Once all the strips were finished, I sewed them all together, and then I single crochetted around the edge. This was done with Debbie Bliss, baby cashmerino, on size 3 needles. It took over a year to make!



P2K





Friday, April 20, 2007

Debbie Bliss - Baby shrug


I finally took some pictures.

Here is the baby shrug from the Debbie Bliss Book Simply Baby. It was a little confusing to make because she doesn't put a graph of what the pieces of the garment will look like when they are completed. So for the arms she has you increase stitches, which I found confusing at the time. Basically when you are done the stitches will go around the arm, instead of up and down.

I made it for my 1 year old daughter, but I made it to fit a 2 year old. I have a hard time putting a lot of time into something for the girls because they are growing so fast. However, these days I am knitting much faster, so I shouldn't be so reluctant. The shrug took about 2 weeks. The biggest pain of it was picking up the stitches around the garment. I liked the way it turned out, and hopefully she will get a lot of use out of it.
P2K

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Dying with PAAS dye


Tonight I dyed some yarn I had with PAAS easter egg dye. I thought it would be brighter. I don't know if I did it right. I think I may have covered it with water too soon. Oh well. It is more pastel then I thought, but I think I probably will make a hat out of it, and that will be good.
I scheduled the DVR correctly tonight and got to see the whole Red Sox game. Tim Wakefield was pitching. He is one of my favorites and I was happy to see his catcher, Doug Mirabelli do well. I like him too.

P2K

Friday, April 13, 2007

2 hours - 4 rows

I'm sure we've all been here at some point - unfortunately I do this a lot. Somewhere I messed up in my counting and the fancy lace stitch, and so after 4 rows of knitting, I had to rip it all out. Only to knit it again (and tink, and knit and tink - you get the picture.) After this, I am feeling so proud when I finally have gotten it right, only to realize that it is really time for bed.

The Red Sox were rained out tonight - oh well.

P2K

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

knitting and baseball

Tonight I planned on watching the Red Sox v. Mariners game, but I had to make dinner and help put the kids to bed, so I set my DVR to tape it because I didn't want to miss seeing Matsusaka pitch. It seemed like a great plan. Unfortunately, I scheduled the wrong channel to tape the game, so by the time I sat down it was the 6th inning. I guess I didn't miss much, though, because the Red Sox lost this one. : (
Some people don't readily see the connection between baseball and knitting, but baseball is FANTASTIC for knitters. You don't really have to watch the game, and when they do something great, the announcers make a big deal about it, and then show the play again. That is just enough time for you to look in, take in the play, and then go back to knitting. It also gives you a good 2-3 hours a night to knit, and not really get wrapped up in a show.
The other good thing about baseball in Boston, is that there is a sports radio station (WEEI) that talks all the time. So if you just want to knit and have something to listen to, this is a good place to go.
Baseball is like a soap opera. The games are fine, and sometimes can be a great adrenalin rush, but behind the scenes there is a lot of drama about the players. It definitely keeps me content and gives me something to talk about besides yarn.
On the knitting front, I just finished a Debbie Bliss pattern - the baby shrug (Made with Cascade 220 superwash) and am now doing the dollar and a half sweater from the current issue of Interweave Knitter. It is a really fun pattern, and so far not too hard.

P2K

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

I'm starting

For about a year I have been reading blogs and listening to podcasts, - especially about knitting - and thought that I would really need to try my hand at this. So here I am. Let me tell you a little bit about me. I am a wife, a mother, and a teacher (of Psychology) and into knitting (including yarns!) tea, tarot, fountain pens and the Red Sox. I am hoping to use this blog to link to some of the sites that I love. So thanks for reading, and I'll write again soon.

P2K