Mary Jane's bag 

The Elegant Ewe and new projects

It has been awhile since I posted. The time just seems to slip away, huh? Last Sunday, I drove up to The Elegant Ewe in Concord. I had a friend with me who is a new knitter, I have been teaching her to knit for 5 months or so. It is one of my very favorite stores. Needless to say she was overwhelmed with their selection. I remember feeling the same way when I first discovered the store. We were in the store for over two and a half hours. Now, as mot of you know I am participating in the Yarn Focus Challenge. We do however get one free day a month to shop. Rebekah would be so proud of me! I came out of the store with a pair of needles , one pattern and one skein of novelty yarn for a felted bag. I have been making some progress in my stash. It feels really good to use up what I have. I almost faltered when I came to the bin of sock yarn. There sat mounds of my beloved Mountain Colors "Bearfoot". In another slot heaps of Trekking XXL. I have some of both marinating in my stash...So I sadly turned away. I picked up another Two Old Bags pattern. It is for the "Body Hugging Flat Purses". I love their line of bag patterns. They are always unusual shapes and styles. The picture of the bag hanging outside is the flat bag. It was a very easy knit. I did have a felting disaster. I used some Brown Sheep Naturespun on this bag. I have never used it to felt with before. The handle and part of the bag felted upon itself. I had quite a time cutting and pulling to try to salvage the bag. I am not that crazy with the wobbly shape up top. I think I will pass this along to one of my small nieces. I am going to make another one using my favorite Plymouth "Galway". I have been wanting to cast on a new pair of socks. Yesterday I started the Pomatomus socks from Knitty. I fiddled about three inches of the sock. The yarn overs were driving me crazy at the beginning of the needles. I decided to frog them and find something easier on the nerves. You really have to be in the right frame of mind for intricate patterns. Today I started Simply Lovely Lace Socks from the new Spring Interweave Knits. This is a nice simple sock. I am using some Cherry Tree Hill Yarn in the Winterberry colorway. It has been tucked in the bottom of the stash for two years now. Well...... I guess that is all that is new with me. I am going to close for now and turn on the "West Wing". It is one of my favorite shows and will be coming to an end soon. Happy Knitting everyone.

Flat Purse/

Twin Rib Mitts and Headband 

I finished my Kitty Pi bed last week. I think Peaches might think it is hers. She immediately started kneading while I was taking the picture. I am going to wait to felt it. I need to find something good size and round to stretch it over after it has been felted. What do you think of the little Cupcake hat ? I think it is just adorable. I am trying to find some bugle beads to stitch on the top for sprinkles. I am going to use this for a tree topper for my Hat/Mitten tree at the shop next Christmas. It try to have an unusual hat as a topper every year. I plan on making a few more of these. They were so much fun to knit. I am using some of my sock leftovers to make baby socks. It is such a great way to use up those little balls. Speaking of socks.... I had used a "star toe" decrease on my last pair of socks. I had a copy of "Knitting on the Road" from the library. I wrote the decrease on a piece of paper. When I went to finish the second sock, I could not find the paper anywhere. I have a huge black hole those little notes seem to fall into. Of course, the library's copy was going to be out for three weeks. Julie was kind enough to try and help me. Do you think I could remember which sock the decrease came from. So.....When did this happen? I used to have the greatest memory. Now, I need to have a little memo board and pen around my neck at all times. Anyway.... I ripped out the toes and continued on with my old standby decrease. My birthday was last Saturday. I turned 47. The number means nothing to me. But, I sure wish I could find that memory again. I had a wonderful day. We spent most of it on the lake then had a nice dinner. I am going to get a new birdbath with my birthday money. I love Wild Birds Unlimited . We have a store over in Dover. I am going to go over on my day off and see what they have in stock. They have on style that is a deck mount. I might check that one out. Well, I'll close for now....American Idol is starting and I have to cheer on "Taylor".

Cupcake Hat/

Kitty Pi Bed and friend//| 

Stash Shopping...

I have had a bunch of Lopi in my stash for months now. One of my customers makes Lopi Sweaters and gave me all her leftover balls. I was going to use them for felted mittens. I gathered some of them up last night. Some of the colors are just a small amount. So, I decided to make Kitty Pi Bed . Miss Peaches loves her bed and practically lives in it. I think this one will be for my Mom's cat Shadow. He is an old boy and loves to curl up in anything he can. My Mom crochets critter blankets for our local animal shelter. Since both of our animals came from this shelter, it is near and dear to our hearts. Shadow always lays on one of her critter blankets. I think he will be very happy with a warm and cuddly new bed. I finally remembered to post a picture of my Windowpane Mittens(that is for you Robbyn!). The pattern is from the book "Homespun Handknits". I used some alpaca for these and they feel luxurious. I will be making a few more pairs of these mittens. The last photo is a pair of baby socks . What a great use of those little bits of leftover sock yarn. They work up so fast too. I used my favorite pattern from Yankee Knitters in the smallest size. I just finished the cutest little children's hat. I am going to wait to post a pic till I finish the embellishments. It is a gorgeous day here in New Hampshire. We are going to do some outside work today. I can't do rake with my shoulder. But, we have so many sticks that have come down over the winter. So that will be my job. I need to run some movies back to town too. We watched "Flight Plan" last night with Jodie Foster. I thought it was a very good movie. We are huge Jodie Foster fans. I'll close for now ....Happy Knitting everyone.

Kitty Pi Bed/

Windowpane Mittens/

Baby Socks 

Yarn Focus Challenge

Rebekah is having a Yarn Focus Challenge. Basically, it is to use up some of our stash. It is going to be quite a bit of fun. You have one free day a month that you can buy yarn. Why don't you check out her blog and read all about it. The more the merrier. Make sure you check out the pictures of Abner and Basil.
I just finished a pair of baby socks for a overdue baby boy named Bruce. Margo at Spinning Yarns (my local yarn store) in Dover is having a baby. They are a wonderful couple and I enjoy shopping at their store. Of course, I did notify them that I am on a yarn diet of sorts. I am one of those people who only buys yarn with a project in mind. My stash is not huge...Compared to some. But, I have enough yarn for about 7 pairs of socks. I have one bin that is just wool and leftovers. The other bin is for acrylic. I have a couple of skeins of lace weight I bought at Christmas. I am going to do some organizing and see where I am at. It has been a gorgeous weekend weather wise. My husband put the boat in the water yesterday. He is out fishing as I am writing this post. I think I will head out to the dock and see if I can hook a ride :)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.