Central Park Hoodie

This is a swatch. People who know me, know that I am not the most patient of people, so swatching is not something I regularly do. I know that it is a GOOD thing to do, but I always want to jump right into the project. But I have been listen to a bunch of podcasts that all recommend swatching (as if the Bold recommendation in patterns is not enough) and while I was in the Dominican Republic I finally felt like I had the time to do this. As you can tell, I feel very pleased with myself. Swatches take time. This one is 30 stitches by 30 rows, and took me about 2 hours to do. I am glad that I did that though.
The yarn is Cascade's Quatro - which I am totally loving. But I get 5 stitches to the inch, and the CPH has a gauge of 17 sts for 4 inches. Luckily the pattern is written for the amount of sts that I need to get my size.
I'm loving the pattern, and the yarn. The yardage (220 yds) is amazing. I am almost done with my first skein, and there is 4 inches of ribbing on this thing.
We're bracing ourselves for a snow storm around these parts - can I just say, the grocery store was CRAZY today.

Stay warm.
P2K

Happy New Year!

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. We were away for the holidays, and life is just beginning to get back to normal. My parents, sisters and their families and us, all went down to Punta Cana Dominican Republic, for a wonderfully, warm and relaxing week in the sun. It was really nice. It is so rare that you have time to just hang out with your family let alone parents and sisters, so this was just great. My kids got to play with their cousin, and I got to go for a week without making dinner or cleaning!
I got some good knitting time, got to watch the Pats go 16-0 and got to catch up on my silly reading. Totally a great thing.

I'll write more knitting news next time.

Happy New Year.
P2K

Christmas in NYC

I just came back from a 24 hour trip to NYC to celebrate my baby sister's 30th birthday. I gave her this scarf that she is modeling for me. It is made from "Blossom" by Schaeffer yarns. It is in the Eleanor Roosevelt colorway. I love this yarn, and it makes such a great scarf. Here is a picture of the same scarf that I made for myself 3 years ago in the Georgia O'Keefe colorway. The yarn is a bit pricey, but it is warm, soft and wears very well.

So.... NYC at Christmas is magical. We went to see the windows at Bloomingdale's, Saks
and Tiffany's and then went to see "the TREE." It was packed. It was also really nice to act like tourists. One of the best things for me was seeing both of my sisters wearing scarves that I had made for them. The sister that I made the silk scarf for commented that she loved the fact that the scarf was so warm and so light weight and not bulky. Something to consider when making my next scarf.
Then at night we went out for dinner, drinks and then dancing. It was so great to hang out with so many of my sister and brother-in-law's friends and family. We got to eat great food, and just get to know people in a relaxed way. Fortunately I talk to my sister a lot, but it is really great to meet so many of the people face to face.

I hope you are keeping warm. Luckily it is "sweater weather."

P2K

Rhinebeck vest

It has been very busy around here lately. Doesn't that always seem to be the way. I've been doing a lot of work on my vest. The yarn and the pattern are from Brooks Farm Yarn and I got them at Rhinebeck. I'm really excited about the yarn. It is really soft and has a great sheen to it. The vest is being worked side to side, so that dip that you see in the center is actually an arm hole. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.
Happy Holidays,
P2K

I miss baseball!

Now that baseball is over, I'm lost as far as what I should watch on T.V. (The writers' strike doesn't help either.) During baseball season, I'll get 3 or more good hours of good knitting time. Baseball is really perfect for that. You're listening and sort of watching and if something great happens, they always show the replay. Don and Remy (the Red Sox announcers) are pretty entertaining as well.
So tonight I turned to The Cutting Edge - Going for the Gold, which is a "sequel" to The Cutting Edge. The first one was cheesy, but it felt honest, and the actors had great chemistry. I've watched it dozens of times. It is a silly, fun movie. This new one is AWFUL. Anyone who knows me, knows that I will tolerate a lot from my stupid movies. I easily lose myself in them and love to cry whenever Hollywood would like for me to - and I LOVE it. So for me to say that a romantic comedy is bad - it is REALLY bad. The best that I can tell you is that I am halfway finished with a vest that I am making from some of the yarn that I got at Rhinebeck. I'll post pictures of that soon.
P2K

What a great weekend

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had a busy time filled with family and FOOD! I'm ready not to eat again. We did Thanksgiving at a cousin's house, and then our "Christmas" on Saturday with my family. We had our exchange and dinner at my sister's which was really nice. She and her family moved at the end of August, and really have a lovely spacious home.
I gave my homemade gifts. The beaded scarf went to my mom. She loved it! I highly recommend this scarf for the "WOW" factor. It is easy to make, and it really looks very impressive. (Of the 3 things, it really was the easiest project.)
My oldest sister (who is younger than me by 3 and a half years) got this scarf. It is a combination of silk (the pink) and merino, and I think she really liked it. I loved the way this felt when I put it on. The silk is really warm and really soft. Both yarns are from artyarns.Finally I gave my little sister her own pair of Fetching. When I made them this time, I added rows before and after the final cable. I think they came out nicely, and I hope that she likes them. I think she was confused by them because she wasn't familiar, but I bet she will enjoy them once she uses them. I would recommend never using black for cable work. You really can't appreciate the cables. I actually think little sis was a little disappointed, and I probably would have done better with a scarf. My husband pointed out that knitters really appreciate these because they are different, but non-knitters aren't looking for different. I will keep that in mind. Luckily I can redeem myself soon because her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Hope all is well.
P2K

Modified drop shoulder

This was the first (and only) sweater that I made for my husband. I made it in 2006. After being married for 8 and a 1/2 years, I figured it was safe to make him something. It is made out of Noro silk garden and it is from Ann Budd's Handy Sweater Patterns for Knitters. It may seem superstitious to some that it took me so long to make something for my DH, but I had been burned by the "Boyfriend Sweater" before.
In early '92 I made this sweater for my boyfriend at the time.

I made the sweater in about 6 weeks. I was unemployed at the time, and spent 4-5 hours a day knitting this sweater. I liked it because the pattern changed often enough to keep me engaged, but not so much that it was impossible. (Actually it is all knit and purls.) I think, however, this is the danger of making a sweater for your lover - they never seem to appreciate it as much as you need them to appreciate it. I had spent over 100 hours on the sweater, and I needed to be thanked or perhaps loved that much. The boyfriend could never live up to what I needed, so I broke up with him soon after I gave it to him. I am actually glad that I made the sweater for the boyfriend, because other wise I might have married him - and that would not have been good! Trust me, life always works out for the best.
The sweater for my husband was different. First of all, I made the sweater because I wanted to. Not that I didn't want to make a sweater for my husband, but I really was more interested in trying out a pattern from Ann Budd's book. I also hadn't made anything with Noro Silk Garden, and I thought the color way was very cool. I also was in my last trimester of pregnancy, and needed a sweater to give me a purpose. I did not, however, make the sweater for my husband so that he would love me more. I actually think this is the biggest difference. I was very happy to give it to DH, and he has only worn it occasionally. In fact, it is really too warm for him to wear often, and this is o.k. with me. This sweater has had no effect on our marriage. I enjoy seeing DH wear the sweater, but only because I like the way that it turned out, and it is nice to sit across from him and admire my handiwork.
So I leave you with these words of wisdom from a woman 3 months shy of 40........When making a gift for someone else, make it selfishly. Meaning, you should want to have the experience of crafting, more than you want to see their reaction.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has lots to be thankful for. I know that I do.

P2K