D is for.... DOG!!!

I'm joining Charlotte in ABC week postings. This week, I am dedicating my post to my dog, Bandit. He's a four year old Boston Terrier and is a real live wire, as well as lots of fun!

Since it's been so hot this weekend, I thought I'd share some snow pictures to remind everyone of how much snow we had this winter. Bandit usually hates snow, but this year, he trotted off into it!

Here he is along the fence:




He is a typical dog that thinks the world revolves around him. So, why shouldn't he lay in the middle of my knitting???




Here he is sharing the love with Jarett. He's wearing a doggie sweater (this one was store bought given to us as a gift) and isn't too happy about it!






Here is a better view of the sweater:




Here he is trying to get into a pic I was taking of the Bro Hats I made the boys:




Sometimes, he just wants to lay around and chill.... my parents gave him a new bed for the holidays - here he is enjoying it (by the way, it cracks me how his tongue hangs out of his mouth when he's relaxed!):




Moving onto summer time, here he is before we took the cover off the pool - he still new how to cool off!!




Of course, sometimes soaking in the sun is the best way to spend your time!!





Or maybe laying on mom's knitting....




I hope you enjoyed these picks of my cutie little boy Bandit!!

FO Friday

I'm joining Tami in FO Friday posts! This week, for some odd reason, I forgot all about Wednesday and never posted my work in progress. It wouldn't have mattered though because I'm still chugging along on the tank top. So, for this week's Friday post, I am going to show pics of recently finished objects that I am proud of.

Here is my fancy schmancy Purple Dream set:



Here is the link for the mitts.

Next is my first fully crocheted blanket! I made it for Jarett. Here he is playing the piano and wearing it:

Hope you enjoyed my FO Friday!

C is for Cables!

Joining in again with Charlotte's ABC week, C is for..... Cables!!!

As a knitter, I love to do cables - they look so complex and exciting but really are simple once you've gotten the technique down. There are many types of cable needles, there are hooks, there are bent needles, some people even use DPN's, but my favorite needles are my Harmony Cable Needles.

They are pretty and that alone makes them fun to use! As you can see, they come in different sizes depending on the yarn you're using. Also, they have little grooves in them to prevent your yarn from slipping off - something that has happened many a time when using plastic or metal cable needles. Occasionally, they do get in the way causing the yarn to split if you're not careful. As long as you are aware of this though, it's not a major problem. Here are some of my favorite cables that I've done, and if you haven't given them a try yet, check out my cabled fingerless mitts pattern on the free pattern page!

Here they are again in brown:




Here is a Menorah Pillow I made for my mom:




Here is a pattern from Lion Brand yarns:



A cute little capelette:




Socks! Unfortunately, I don't remember what pattern this was - anyone recognize them?




Cabled arm warmers:




Lastly, a cabled scarf that I copied from an Old Navy scarf I had seen:

Cables are lots of fun - I highly recommend you give them a try if you haven't done them before. If you have, you are probably joining in my happy sentiment of the cable...

Finished Object Friday

Welcome to my first addition of FO Friday! Thank you to Tami for inspiring me to join you! As you know, I've been making matching scarves for my nieces. They were a quick and easy project made of bulky yarn in a pretty pink/purple combination. I used Plymouth Massimo seen here and size US 17 needles:

This is a close up of the larger scarf:




Here are the two scarves together:

The pattern was very easy - cast on an odd number of stitches, K1,* YO, K2tog*, repeat from * to * until the end of the row. Repeat for every row. Bind off at desired length and add fringe.

Work in Progress Wednesday

WIPW continues! Thanks Tami for having me join in! For my current project, I have finished the front of my Plymouth tank and and on the back now. It's coming along nicely, although it may take a bit to get used to the fancy nubs in the yarn. Thanks to everyone for their kind comments about how pretty the yarn is!! Here is the progress of the finished front:

Here is how far I am on the back - not too far yet as you can see!

I am also working on matching scarves for my nieces. They are 11 and 2 yrs old. I used really chunky yarn (Plymouth Massimo), size 17 needles and am just doing a basic K1, YO, K2tog repeat pattern to really just show off the yarn. Here is the smaller one in progress:

It's a quick project - I actually made the first one on the bus trip to MDS&W Festival. I'll post the finished project on Friday - hopefully Blogger will be working then!! I had it all ready for last week but ran into the same computer issues as most people of Blogger and finally gave up.

On a silly note, we are still working with the crayfish for Science. Here is the diagram I drew on the board to show the kids all of the body parts:

LOL!!! Happy Wednesday everyone!

B is for BLUE!

For lack of any kind of originality, I made my ABC week post (joining in Charlotte's blog idea) about all of the items that I knit or crocheted in the color blue. So, enjoy the photo stream here:

First up is Bryan's blue cabled sweater in the pattern Cable Dude here:

Next is a cowl that my son "made" for me when I taught him to knit and was actually supposed to be a scarf. But, as we all know, his little hands tuckered out and boredom set in and after a few inches, he was done. So, what do all of us creative mom's do? We come to the rescue and make it into something else! Whala, the cowl is born!

Next is a cowl that I actually did make on my own! Unfortunately, I did not record what pattern I used and it's not in my project pages (yes, I am hanging my head in shame) but it is pretty and it's blue!

Next up is my first hairpin lace item. This is a fun technique to do!! If you've never tried it, I do recommend doing it at least once. This is a scarf that I did with two strips of the hairpin lace:

This next scarf is one I am very proud of as it is my own pattern which you can find here on the free pattern page!

On to mitts, here is my Sourwood. Very pretty in blue:

Then there are these mitts that I again made and are on the free pattern page here:

There are lots more, but since I am work and running out of time, I thought I'd end here with a test leg warmer pattern I did for someone:

And that concludes this week's ABC post!

Work in Progress Wednesday!

I am now also participating in Tami's Work in Progress Wednesday, otherwise known as WIPW.

Here is the Tank I am working on. The pattern is from Plymouth:

This is what it will look like, except that I am using the stockinette side as the "right" side rather than the reverse stockinette:

I am using the same yarn the pattern calls for:

This yarn is easy to work with. The only complaint I have is that it has little nubs every so often which cause the stockinette to lay uneven. It is pretty, it has sparkles, but it's not an even knit which can be annoying... oh well, it's coming out okay so we'll see how it looks in the end. That wraps up my first participation in WIPW!

"A" is for Accessories!!

As I said in last post, I am participating in "ABC" week with Charlotte. The point is to post each week with a letter of the alphabet going in alphabetical order. So to begin with.... "A" is for Accessories! Off we go!

I had so much fun shopping at MDS&W and although I did cave and buy some yarn, I bought lots of things to go with all of my fiber habits. First up, since witchyknits4ewe, LLC is now official, licensed and registered, I bought an adorable business card holder. How cute is he?!

Here is a side view so you can see where the cards go:

Here is one more shot of him with my cards and sitting next to my hysterical "old lady in a beach chair knitting" that my friend brought back from Florida for me:

Next up is the yarn - notice the color theme, yes, they are almost identical. They kind of look black in the pics, but they are a deep wine color with some black and the sock weight one has a bit of purple/blue to it. They are going to be used to make a lacey shrug and a shawlette:

I also bought Wendy Johnson's travel patterns of Socks Toe Up:

And who could resist these socks?! My friend Trudy got the same pair!

Aren't they fun! I also bought a beautiful wooden shawl pin, made by who else? Plymouth, of course!! (That is a private joke for those who know me)

In order to support my spinning habit, I wanted a real Knitty Knoddy as opposed to the "fake" PVC one I've been using. I have to put this one together, but it's by Ashford, same as my wheel.

Finally, I bought an Orifice Hook for my wheel. I had one but it was a plain old hook - this one is pretty!! Jewels and pretty!!

Here is a close up of the jewels:

So, there we are! A beautiful day full of lovely company and lovely splurges!! A great time was had by all! Woo! Hoo!