Thorpe

Here is my version of Thorpe . If you scroll down on the right side of Kirsten's blog, you will find the pattern. I was not sure how to link to the pdf version. Still not as savvy as I would like to be about blogging . What a great pattern. The pattern calls for chunky yarn. I am trying to use up some of my acrylic stash. I used leftover Red Heart and doubled the strands. It was a little tough on the fingers. I am not a fan of Red heart.... but, my mother has given me quite a bit for my charity knitting. It does make a warm pair of mittens too. The hat is very thick and will keep some child warm. I want to make a few more of these hats. The other hat is called Rib a Roni. This is another nice pattern for charity hats. I made the small size. As you can see... I am still making mittens. I would like to make a pair to match the Thorpe hat. Speaking of mittens. I have a lone skein of Malabrigo in the purple colorway. I want to make a pair of mittens with it. I am thinking of using the Evangeline mitt pattern and finishing them off as mittens. I am not a big fan of mitts. I have made a few pairs and can't even give them away. I thought my nieces would love them. This winter has been way to cold for mitts. Anyways... I am not sure if there is enough yardage in the skein. It would seem like the cables would take up the yardage. Has anyone used the Malabrigo for mittens? If so....would love to hear from you. After looking through my stash on Ravelry, I am thinking a pair of socks might be in order. I went over to The Spinning Yarns in Dover yesterday. I went right over to the Mountain Colors "Bearfoot". I finally walked away...that stuff is addicting. I already have four skeins in my stash that need to be used. I just love the feel of it and it makes a gorgeous pair of socks. I purchased two skeins of Cotton chenille, which is why I went to the store in the first place. I was very proud of myself! I'll knit down that stash if it kills me :)

Mitten Mania

Mitten Mania has struck again.... Most of you know how I love a good mitten. Let me tell you how much I LOVE the oatmeal mitten The pattern is called Very Cabley Mittens. I made these with a skein of Lamb's Pride in the colorway Oatmeal. They are so warm and cuddly. I am claiming these mittens for myself. I thought for sure I would run out of yarn. I had a very small ball left. I loved this pattern. I am sure there will be a few more pairs in my future. The felted mittens are the infamous pattern from Fiber Trends. I think it is called Snow Country mittens. I have made many pairs of these mittens. This pair was requsted by my sister. The yarn is gorgeous. I just wish I could remember the name. I bought it while away in Pennsylvania. She walks her dog every morning. She says her hands have never been warmer. The other picture is a pair of mittens I made for charity with a small earflap hat. I have belonged to ravelry for quite awhile now. I have just started playing around with it . Here is a link to my page Irish . I have been working on cataloging my stash. What a great feature. I am forever scrambling through the bins to see what I have. I am not going to catalog my acrylic stash. I can lose alot of time wandering around Ravelry. I learn something new every time I visit. I love being able to type in a pattern and see all the variation. It is quite an amazing site. I tend to spend time in the mitten section. There are some incredible projects.

So....anyone else ready for Spring? We have been hammered in New England this winter. As much as I hate mud season...it sounds very good right about now. Remind me of that if I start complaining. Happy Knitting everyone!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year everyone! A new year and a new home. This is why my poor blog has been neglected. We moved in our new house just before Christmas.The second picture is the end that faces the lake. The view is just wonderful. I have to say it was worth all the headaches of the last year. We still do not have an occupancy permit. But, that is another story. I lived with my sister and her family for several weeks, while my husband and Miss Peaches lived in a tiny camping trailer. We all survived to tell the story . My computer also died during this time. We are the proud owners of a new computer too. We have had so much snow so far this winter. I think at last count it was 29 inches. I can not remember a winter like this in many years. That's okay....I will take snow over ice any day. I still have managed to knit during the craziness. My "Hat and Mitten" tree was quite sucessful this year. Of course, I did not get pictures because the camera was tucked away.I collected about seventy items to bring to the local shelter. I have already started knitting mittens for next year. I also made some knitted ornaments. I made stockings, hats and mini mittens for the tree. They were quite a bit of fun. I just finished a hat called "Le Slouch". I received some gorgeous handspun yarn for Christmas. I will be sure to get a picture of it. It was a great pattern. It actually does not look bad on me. I am not a hat person at all. Right now I am knitting baby things. Our first grandchild is going to be born on Thursday. We are heading to Pennsylvania in a few days. My step-daughter is having a C section on Thursday. I guess the baby is already over ten pounds. I have a bag full of knitted items for him. I made five wash clothes, a baby blanket, blanket buddy toy, gorgeous cabled hooded sweater and many hats and socks. Baby items are one of my favorite things to knit. While we are in Pennsylvania....I want to make sure to hit my favorite yarn store "The Yarn Basket". I even have a few gift certificates to use. They have a great selection of baby patterns. Well.... I know this is more that has happened, but that is all that comes to mind. I look forward to getting caught up on every one's blogs.

Foundation!!

We finally have a foundation!!!! We are keeping our fingers crossed for delivery of the Modular next Thursday. This has been a long stressful process. After they set the house....they need six to eight weeks to button everything up. Maybe we will be in for the holidays. I may not be blogging these days. But, I sure have been clicking the needles. A few weeks ago I went to a Charity Knitathon at the Rochester Library. I had such a great time. I met some wonderful ladies and had fun to boot. They are meeting twice a week to knit for local charities. The local Wal-Mart donated $250.00 worth of yarn for the event. I am usually working when they have their meeting, so I have been knitting at home. Here are a couple of cute hats and mittens set I have been working on. Do you notice Ms. Peaches tail in the photos? She felt the need to eat her supper while I was taking a photo.The Child's Tassel Hat is a cute pattern. It has a few sizes from newborn to age 5. Hats and Mittens are in my forecast for the next few months. I am gearing up for the hat and mitten tree I have at the shop. I just bought some poster board so I can make new signs for the window. I have some customers who have been knitting mittens this summer. The trees are starting to change on the lake. I am hoping it is a beautiful foliage season. We are hoping to sneak away for an overnight. I will miss seeing The Old Man of the Mountains . We had stopped to see him the day before he fell. I have not been up that way since. This is my favorite time of year!

Baby knitting fever!

Hello dear bloggers! I am still alive and well. The summer has been so hectic . I am sure you can all relate. The house project has been moving at a snails pace. I think in my last post....I explained that the surveyors had made a huge mistake. We had to halt construction four about four or five weeks. I am just thankful that we found out before the house was up. We have a frost wall and footings. We are waiting on the foundation walls. We had everyone lined up and the land mistake threw it all off schedule. We were supposed to have our foundation poured on July 5Th. All of our contractors had to move on to other jobs. Now, they are trying to fit us in between everyone else. Our modular arrived about three weeks ago. It sits in two pieces on a lot. Bruce and I go and visit it every weekend. We just peek in the windows and sigh. We are both trying to be patient. I have been out of touch with everyones blog. I look forward to seeing what everyone is working on. As you can see from this picture heavy post. I have been knitting. My youngest stepdaughter is having a baby in January. I have been working away on baby items. I have made several wash clothes and thumbless mitts. I have a nice baby blanket finished too. The little booties are the infamous Saartje's booties . They are just adorable and a fun pattern. I wish I knew the sex of the baby. I have sock yarn scraps that would make cute booties for girls. I really enjoyed knitting Bunny Blanket Buddy . This was made with Velvetspun from Lion Brand. I would like to make a few of these and put them away for gifts. What a great cuddly blankie for a child. I have an adorable hooded baby sweater I just finished too. I need to find the perfect buttons and then I will take a picture. So, even though I have been among the missing....my needles have been clicking. My nieces started school yesterday. Where did the summer go. I guess we say this every year. I always like to make spaghetti sauce at the end of the summer. I have a few local farm stands I like to frequent. Everyone is short on tomatoes this year. I guess the weather must have affected the crop. I did read in the paper that we are going to have a banner year for apples. I look forward to going with my family in a few weeks. My husband loves apple crisp, he will be in his glory. Hope you all enjoy these last days of summer.

Missing blogger returns!

Life has been busy here. I have not updated or read my blogs in too long. I have no idea what is going on in Blogland. Bruce and I were on vacation for a week. We stayed around here and did a few day trips with the boat. We had quite a few house appointments that week. The last day of our vacation, we ran into a big glitch with the house. We had the surveyors out here. They were staking out the house. Then the foundation would be dug the following day. Well...... the surveyors have made an error. The house would not work in the area they staked. We had planned to live in our mobile home while the modular was being built. One of the stakes for the house place it inside the mobile. This meant we would have to move the mobile to finish the project. Finally the surveyor was out here today. He says they made an error in our land survey. They are going to have to redo the project. Meanwhile... the house is on the way from Canada. We are trying to stay calm, cool and collected. It looks like we may have to apply for a variance form the town. This is not an easy thing. They can not hear our case till August 15Th. Things will be clearer in a few days as to whether that will happen. In knitting news..... I finished and blocked my doily. I still need to pick up some starch to stiffen it up a bit. I am so pleased with it. I may end up framing it in a antique frame. I even started a new doily. I am sure that is hard to believe after all my sputtering about the last one. I have started Egeblad . It is such a gorgeous doily. I work on dish clothes when we go off in the boat. I think I have about ten or eleven finished. They are such a nice portable project. I'll be tucking them away for Christmas. I have been working on preemie hats too. I'll show some pictures of those next time. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. The gardens seem to be coming in slow around here. I am hoping to pick some blueberries this weekend. We have a great place to pick in the next town. I am hoping to catch up on some of my blog reading this weekend. I can't wait to see what everyone is working on. Happy Knitting!

Labor of love

Let's talk about Doilies! I love doilies. They always remind me of my grandmother. I have crocheted a few small ones in my time. I got a bee in my bonnet about making some doilies for our new home. I purchased this book "Fresh Knit Doilies" from Leisure Arts. I started this doily the other month. I got about fifteen rows into the project and decided to put it down. I kept missing a stitch and was very frustrated. The other week I decided to pick it up again. I have been painstakingly working row by row. The pattern is not too hard. It is just the darn yarn overs. The middle section has so many yo's, ssk's and slip stitches. All it takes is one darn stitch and your all messed. up. I finally decided to break the pattern up with some stitch markers. Finally I decided to count the stitches every row. This has made life a whole lot easier. Last week... I almost ripped the whole thing out. I then thought about all the hours I have put into this project. I have been persevering and now am closing in on the end. I have about ten rows left. I have to admit I hate to give up on a project. I am so glad I did not frog this one. It is going to be a gorgeous doily. I showed it to my customer yesterday. She was amazed I would put this much time into a doily. What can I say...I love a challenge. She told me she would frame it and use it for a piece of artwork. That is a good idea. But, I am sure I will display it somewhere in the house. If you asked me a week ago, "Would you knit another doily?" I would have told you " No *&%$ way!!". But, now I find my eye wandering to other doilies. Here is a site with some beautiful doilies Knitted Doilies. Anyone want to join me in the madness? :)