Otherside.....

I just started a new summer linen top! You can find this pattern on Ravelry:

This is going to be a fairly quick knit. I am using Shibui Knits Linen in Lime and Tar. I really love how the Tar colorway makes the Lime pop! It's going to be an awesome top! I need to make more than one as I have a feeling this will become a favorite!

This is a very clever, quick and easy pattern to follow. Very well written! I dare say that a "newbie" knitter may be able to do this one easily! I love the crisp hand of linen. The Shibui is "chain linked" linen and is very nice to use. I will update my blog as I get further along! Happy Knitting!

Black Trillium Lilt Sock Gradient Kit

I have ordered two different gradient sets from Black Trillium Yarns. This is a very soft, yet sturdy gorgeous yarn! I am waiting to begin my perfect project for both these sets. One is a full size set in Crater.

This yarn is produced in Portland, Oregon! I love supporting locals! I am very lucky to be able to purchase this yarn here. If you would like to check out her yarns, she has an ETSY Site and does custom orders as well! Here is her link: Melanie is the shop owner and she offers excellent customer service and her work is beyond compare! I highly recommend her lovely yarns! I have also purchased a second gradient kit, which comes with five 133 yard skeins. The colorway is Smoke.

I will update my blog with the perfect projects for these when I choose them! Happy Knitting!

I made another fabulous shawl! This pattern can be found on Ravelry and it's called the "Wholehearted" shawl. Lovely pattern! It was a fast knit despite using light fingering yarn! I used Madelinetosh Merino Light in Antler and Charcoal. I highly recommend this pattern, even for beginning knitters! Great travel knitting!

There are many variations you can try! Remember, your the designer! You can use any weight yarn, any color or color combination. It's your shawl, you make what you would love to wear!!!

Really OFF Topic

This really has nothing to much with my knitting, but the last month has been so strange. It's MadMay (Madelintosh) month on Ravelry and my little hands have been very busy! I have made my first shawl using Madelinetosh DK (Tosh DK) in Tern. I am so in love with this yarn and it's my new "go to" yarn! If you have never tried Tosh yarns, I recommend you try it just once! The colors are "glazed" and unique. I will show you photo's of my Mara Shawl. Madison is my grand daughter who loves to model my finished objects! She is such a darling! This pattern is free on Ravelry. It calls for 3 skeins of DK weight yarn, I used nearly 4 skeins. I would recommend you buy 4. So to move forward, in the last month we have had a horrific bombing in Boston. Three dear people lost their lives and many other's lost limbs and suffered severe wounds. I just feel so sad this can actually happen in America. What is wrong with people? I feel sad and may take some heat for my opinion, for the two brother's who thought it would be alright to do something like this in "their" own country! One of them had a small child he left behind, and for what? What did they prove? What did that show us? This was a true American tragedy, for the poor people who were only there to support friends and family on a what has become a "historic" day. I will never understand it. You may or may not have been following the brutal slaying of Travis Alexander, it happened in June of 2008. The trial began in January 2013 and has almost reached it's climax. Jodi Arias has been found guilty of first degree murder. She slaughtered this man, the man she claimed to love and want to marry. He just didn't agree with that, so ooops, he's dead. This person, Jodi Arias is a joke of a human being and does not deserve the media attention she's been getting. Funny thing, Karma has a way of biting you in the ass when you least expect it. She never believed she would be convicted and even said so in one of her many interviews with the press. All along, this has been a circus for her. She's worried about her appearance, what everyone thought of her. The prosecutor, Juan Martinez has really put her in her place! Convicted of first degree murder! They are going through the death penalty phase now. If ever a human being ever deserved the death penalty, Jodi Arias does! It's been like a train wreck to watch her on the stand, not one shred of truth ever uttered from her lips. She has lied from day one, changed her story three times, admitted to killing him, but said it was because she was abused. She has slandered this poor man's name, all in front of his family. I do not advocate the death penalty, but I feel it's been reserved just for Jodi Arias. She will continue to torment this family from behind bars. She is an evil, nasty ugly person inside and out. So it's been so unreal for me to watch someone like her on the stand, and to finally get what she deserves. She has cost the state of Arizona almost 2 million to defend her pathetic life. Her defense team is a joke, and I mean a joke. They have tried to get themselves removed from this case, but no, they must continue. Those attorneys should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the victim's name, the victim's family to go through what they have put them through. Total satisfaction when the jury handed down the Murder One guilty verdict! They slapped those defense attorney's and Jodi Arias in the face, WE DO NOT BELIEVE YOU! Thank God, I was worried this would be another Cassie Anthony bullshit trial! We all know she killed that poor little baby! What another piece of work as a human being. Her mother is no better. Anyway, this has been an emotionally exhausting trial, one I would have never thought I would become so involved in, but it is, a train wreck, you can't help but watch. I really hope Travis can finally rest in peace and that his family can move on with their lives without Jodi Arias even as a second thought! They deserve it!

HELP!

My most favorite holiday, Valentines Day! I love pink, red and white and chocolate, conversation hearts and currently, I am making the most adorable cowl for the occasion! You can find the pattern on Ravelry! Here is mine in Madelinetosh MCN in the yummy color of Tart!

This is a finished photo of the pattern

I love this pattern! The stitch is great! This is going to be comfy, warm and very fashionable! I love it! I may cast on twice as many stitches next time to make it more slouchy, I may do that one in Malabrigo Rios in Plomo! I am wanting to do a giveaway, if you have ideas please share them! Something yarny and yummy?

I Dare Say.....

That without good tools, you can't very well produce good products! I have had to "make do" with what I have and look for other ways to go about making something look right. I have decided to invest in great tools for my knitting. I have had the Addi Clicks, which were supposed to be top of the line for knitting needles. When Hiya Hiya introduced their new Sharp Interchangeable Needle Set, I ordered one, they sell them in two different packs. The small set comes with 4 cables of various sizes and needles 2 through 8. They are sharp enough to get into the most delicate cobweb yarn without any issue and knit the bulkiest yarns there are! They are amazing! They did not however, make a large set yet in sharps. So I had to make do with the "original" set of larges, which were great, but not "sharp"! I just found out they make the large shape set, so I promptly sold my "unused" original large set and got a fair price for them. I then turned right around and ordered the Large Sharp set!! I am like a kid at Christmas! I cannot wait for them to arrive! If you want a great set of needles, Hiya Hiya are the ones to buy! They are smooth, the joins are fabulous, the tips are PERFECT and they are reasonable! I am thrilled! I do not work for Hiya Hiya, I am just a 20 plus year knitter, with a bit of experience with needles. I highly recommend these awesome needles!

Selfish Knitting!

So now that the holiday madness is over, I have knit some gifts for loved ones and rested my fingers! I have been busy knitting a square for a baby blanket my knitting club is putting together for a fellow knitter due in a few months. I decided on some lovely Spud and Chloe Sweater in Igloo! Lovely stuff! I have been busy combing through patterns, purchasing patterns and getting my Queue together on Ravelry. I have a plan! I needed to order some yarn for a beautiful sweater I am making, first in my Queue. I have never knit with Madelintosh Yarn. I have only heard about the wonder of it. Right along with Malabrigo, which I love and use! Here are a couple of photos of my gorgeous Tosh yarn I ordered!!! All three are Tosh Merino Light in Antler, Tart and Hickory! I am totally in love!

Now I have wound up the Tart, I was wanting to make a pair of fingerless mitts with those just to test out the yarn. It's a gorgeous "cake" just begging to be knit. I am waiting to start, I need to find the perfect pattern! Here is a photo of my "cake"!

After Christmas.....

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did! It was very low key and relaxing. Of course I spent my six days off from work finishing up my shopping and baking, cleaning house and of course, knitting! I finished quite a few gifts I was planning to give, which included a darling Hello Kitty hat and fingerless mitts for my four year old grandchild Madison. I am including my most recent project, a selfish knit! Just for me! In my most favorite yarn ever, Malabrigo Arroyo, in the colorway Plomo! This yarn is so fabulous, superwash merino wool! Soft, snugly and awesome stitch definition. I highly recommend it.

Really a lovely pattern and fun to knit! Mindless knitting! Just what I needed after the busy holiday rush knits I did! Have a very Happy New Year! Some friends of mine and myself are planning a knit-a-long (KAL) beginning in February. We are planning to knit the Low Tide top from TinCanKnits: http://www.tincanknits.com/pattern-PK-lowtide.html There are so many awesome patterns and yarny yumminess out there, I will never have enough time to make them all or touch all the scrumptious yarns. I am going to try my best to do as many as I can though! I hope you do too!

In Light...

In light of the recent events, tragic events, I don't feel like my posts will have much merit. I can only say that I feel for the families and friends of those lost in the recent shootings. I live one hour away from Portland, Oregon where the "mall" shooting occurred. My family was there just the weekend before. The recent school shooting is just beyond comprehension and I cannot wrap my brain around why ANYONE would want to take innocent lives, especially those of young innocent children. I will never understand it. I believe our mentally ill society is once again "locked behind closed doors" only without treatment they so desperately need. Families are forced to deal with these people the best they can but lack the skills to help them. I have two cousins with mental illness. I know the hardships, and understand how difficult it is. Our society needs to band together to help these people. They are everywhere, on the streets, on the bus, in the shopping malls, in the schools! My experience with mental illness has been that once the person is on medications, they feel better so they stop taking the medications they need. Only to plummet even further into the abyss. We used to have "mental" institutions, so many are being closed and suffering law suits for mistreatment. I do not know the answer, I do not know if our society will ever find one. I am just so sorry those innocent lives were lost. On another note, I managed to finish a cute little "cowl"/"scarf" and it really looks adorable on. I improvised the pattern and made it the way I wanted to. It's currently blocking right now but when it's finished I will have a "modeling" photo! Here is the cast on photo:

this is the finished photo:

I certainly hope that by my next post, we have some answers as to why this tragedy occured and some options to prevent this from happening again. In the mean time, stay safe, enjoy your families and love one another.

Santa Wreath

I decided to go outside the box and make something that was not knitted! I found a simple, cute wreath and decided to make one. I went to JoAnn Fabrics, bought some 100% real wool felt, made 100 3" circles out of it and folded them in half twice, pinned to a styrofoam wreath I bought and here you have it!!

If you didn't have to use pins, this would be a fun craft to involve kids, but to many pins and scissors. They do enjoy however, playing with the scraps! Use your imagination and mix colors and embelishments!! Enjoy!

Sewing and Knitting?

I am the type of girl that loves technology and all the new doors it has opened for me! I have a really nice sewing machine, yes it's a manual one but hey, it works! I have been in such a "crafty" mood lately, I have been buying up every skein of yarn I can get my hands on! I must put a "halt" to that and actually start knitting down my stash. I have been collecting Malabrigo Arroyo, a gorgeous superwash sport weight yarn. My favorite color is Plomo. Hold your breath, here they are!

I am so in love with this yarn and of course the color! It's breath taking to behold and even more so to pet! I am gathering a sweater quantity to make a lovely sweater from one of our own Ravelry designers! I purchased the pattern and will be casting on as soon as the holiday's are over. I feel guilty knitting anything for myself and truthfully, there is no time! The pattern is Pauroxo by Jennifer Dassau which you can find on Ravelry! She really has some amazing patterns!!

Back to technology! I have been debating over new sewing machines. I am not an "avid" seamstress, even though I would love to be! I have been sewing since the tender age of 13. Do you remember "home ecc" classes? I learned to sew and fell in love with it. I had visions of creating quilts and quilted bags. I am creating new Christmas stockings for my family. I chose black burlap with muslin lining. I will post photos of those in the next blog entry. I did some research and of course I can't afford a Janome machine at this time. That would be my pie in the sky machine! I settled for a very nice Brother Project Runway machine. It was on sale and I had a coupon which was good for $75.00 off! I brought it home and before I knew it, my fiance Richard had it out of the box and set up on the dining room table for me in nothing flat! He was fiddling with the attachments and booklets and accessories, I was anxiously watching and waiting for something to get misplaced or thrown out. Neither of those things happened, and I appreciated his help! After I peeled him away from the table so I could "get" in there and look at my new machine, I loaded a bobbin and threaded the machine. I did some practice sewing using a couple of the 80 different stitches she offers. I can tell we are going to become vast friends! I am happy so far and will keep you posted. Here is her first photo debut!

As much as I love and adore my knitting, it's very slow going. I am really hoping that sewing will give me the instant gratification I am seeking at this time!

Spud and Chloe Yarn

A few months ago I purchased two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn to make something for my granddaughter Madison. While prepping the yarn to wind, I hit knot after knot and twists that were amazing while I had it on the swift. I have never had such an issue before with winding any yarn! I thought wow I must have done something wrong. I ended up losing half the skein to unbelievable knots that I could not for the life of me remove. I tried, in vain. The second skein, sitting there begging to be knit up, also needed to be wound. Again, I took the yarn out, popped it (kind of a "snapping" motion) prior to placing it on the swift and cut the bindings. Started out smooth as silk until I got half way down to the middle of the skein! I ran in to the same issue. Lost half of that skein also. I asked people on the Ravelry Spud and Chloe site if they had issues with this yarn knotting while trying to wind it. It's not a very common phenomenon but it can happen with ANY yarn. I was told sometimes when they are winding the yarn at the factory. The binding ties are placed wrong or is not tied off properly and can create knots. Just as my faith in human kind was waning, and much to my wonderful surprise today, there was a small package sitting on the door step! It was two skeins of Spud and Chloe Sweater in the beautiful colorway of Igloo!! Here is what I am making and now I will also have enough to make the Hello Kitty Mitts!!!

Imagine these mitts about one half this size! Maddy will be so excited! She is all about Hello Kitty these days. Hello kitty jackets, tops, shoes, backpack, you name it, she has it. This will complete another "phase" for her!

Both of these patterns are free on Ravelry!

Beautiful Lacy Stash Busting Scarf

I am using size 11 knitting needles. Yarn - anything you have (I used Sublime Lustrous Extra Fine Merino DK) 2= skeins 208 yards. Row 1 - K3, *(k2tog, yo)* repeat till last 3 stitches, K3 Row 2 - K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3 Row 3 - K3, *(yo, k2tog)* repeat till last 3 stitches Row 4 - K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3 Row 5- Knit all Row 6 - Knit all Begin at Row 1 for 3 more repeats Row 8 - Knit Row 9 - Purl I was going to add some clear glass beads too! I bought a lovely "stick" pin and added beads to close the scarf, photo's when finished! Keep going until it is close to the length you want then begin at Row 1 all over again. Make sure to leave enough yarn to finish another border!! I knit 3 lace repeats Knit 6 rows garter stitch for top border.This pattern can be varied by size of yarn, size of needle and number of stitches. It is a multiple of 2 stitches so you can make it as wide as you want. Anything you want. Gets rid of those part balls of yarn in your stash.

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today when I checked my Ravelry, I had a wonderful surprise!  I won a pattern by commenting in a blog.  It's an adorable little cherry pillow!  I live in Salem Oregon, which is called Cherry City.  I thought this would be a cute pattern to make something for my daughter who loves cherries.  I have not been having such a great week so it really was a nice thoughtful pick me up!  Here is a photo of the pillow

Cherry Picks Pillow by Joan Kosmachuk

You can also find this pattern on Ravelry by following this link:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cherry-picks-pillow

Yarnie Goodness!!

It has been a while since I've posted and I am going to make my blog "public" now so I can share some knitting with my friends. I am posting some photos of my friend Jen's scrumptious yummy yarn she creates!! It is so lovely! She can do solids also and the yarn is soft and squishy, just the way I love it! Enjoy the pics and if there is something you want to order just let me know! My regular email is janison58@yahoo.com. 80% Superwash Merino - 20% Nylon (yummy stuff) 80% Superwash Merino - 10% Cashmere - 10% Nylon (really extra yummy) 100% Bamboo (nice for summer) very soft with a beautiful sheen

Happy days....sad days

So very happy and in love! He's so amazing and sweet I cannot believe how lucky I am!! I am saddened by news of a school friend. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor. So unfair. She's talented, beautiful, sweet, loves God, loves her family. She's young with so much more to give. She posts a blog, which was meant for her crafts, she makes amazing cards. It's turned into her medical adventure. She's stage 4, not good news. It really hurts my heart to know someone so wonderful is leaving us. Update: My friend passed away last May in North Carolina. Her husband took over writing her blog and kept us all updated each week as to her condition. He is really a wonderful man who truly loves his wife and family. My heart goes out to him.

Done!

Yosemite Hike

Our plans of hiking Half Dome in Yosemite were squashed like a bug a few months after we started making our reservations and working toward getting in shape.  We hiked, we worked out, we ate great, we did it all.  We were going to get to the top of Half Dome if it killed us.  Or a bear ate us, either way, we were going!  It was a beautiful 90 degrees the day before our planned  "mini" hike.
  
The National Park Service made the following decision:

Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are now required seven days per week when the cables are up.  This is an interim measure to increase safety along the cables while the park develops a long-term plan to manage use on the Half Dome Trail.  (Strenuous, 4800 ft ascent)  
  

Might I also add, the three of us girls made our way to the ranger station at Yosemite to "chat" with the cute ranger boys (it was raining? what can I say).   We chatted for 30 minutes or so.  He gave us advise for our next trip and was not quite sure how they planned to change the permit situation but was sure it would change.  They only issue 400 permits a day and you can only apply for a permit 4 months in advance of your planned hike/climb.  If you want to get up to the dome by day break, you may score a permit when someone gets there and looks up the cables and chickens out.  The day we picked 11 months earlier, it managed to rain, the hike would have been canceled.  We weren't to bummed after that!





Here are the tent cabins we stayed in.  



May I also mention on the day we checked in, we strolled up to the Awahnee Hotel.  Did I say "waaahhhhhh"?  It was the most fabulous, magical, mid evil looking place I've ever seen!!
Except in the movies, I believe



Our first morning "after" sleeping in the "cabin", we were trying to find coffee...mmmmm coffee  We wandered over to the lodge, we needed to exchange our tickets for transport up     Glacier Mountain, we were going to hike 12 miles down hill that day.   Rain blew that idea.  My cousin Elaine took our tickets and went to the kiosk for us while we searched for coffee.  We were standing near the lodge, still raining, my lovely sister Sandra looks a bit beyond me and says to me, Janet don't freak but there's a bear right behind you.  I looked at her and said "no, no way your messing with me".  I turned with a big grin on my face which quickly dissipated as I saw the young bear walking by me.  I quickly ran after it!  I wanted to see where he he was going and what he was trying to find.  He ran by the ticket kiosk and across the road to a large meadow.  

The Merced River runs over the gorgeous slabs of granite that are so abundant there.  Granite everywhere you look.  



On the day of our big hike,  it rained.  There is no way you can go when it's raining as hard as it was that day.  We decided we would go to Glacier Point and go take a look at the Grizzly Giant in Mariposa Grove.  What an awesome trip, giant sequoias everywhere you look.  The National Forrest Service conducted a "prescribed" fire there in 2008, over 90 acres were planned to be burned.  It's a cleansing, something we all could use from time to time, although I don't suggest doing it by fire.


Moving on, we had an awesome hike up Vernal Falls.  What a beautiful, captivating, breathtaking hike!  If you don't believe in God, you will after you see the beauty of Yosemite.
  


I will be back to write more of our most awesome hike, I've never before had the feeling I had when I was there, absolute beauty everywhere you look.