ITEIII Prize Package

The hostesses of the ITEIII put together some prize packages for the participants and I was lucky enough to win one in a drawing for the "Post Your Supplies" contest. Laurie C. was the generous hostess who provided this prize - and it is fabulous!

There were two skeins of Knitpicks Marino Style yarn in Cornflower, and a skein of Trendsetter's Pagoda in Bright Multi (I'm picturing a cute little spring purse!), some beautiful handmade stitch markers, cute knitting note cards, a row counter and tapestry needle set. AND....Eva Wiechmann's Pursenality Plus book. I love this book! Just look at all of these cute purses - I don't know which one I'm going to make first.

Thank you Laurie - I'm overwhelmed with your generosity!

FOs and WIPs

Here is the 'Heartbreakingly Cute Kimono' from Mason Dixon Knitting and the equally 'heartbreakingly cute hat' from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I also started a square for "The Great Whoduknit Charity Blanket." The pattern stitch is from an old knitting pattern book I have and is called 'trinity' which is very appropriate for our March book - Haunted Ground. If you are not already a member of Whoduknit and you like to read mysteries and you like to knit - why don't you join us at Whoduknit.
We have a blog and a Yahoo Group.

Vacation is Over :(

Back to work tomorrow. Things didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. I didn't get to do a tour of yarn shops - my car ended up in the repair shop instead.
And I didn't buy $200 worth of yarn (our boiler bit the dust, and we needed to buy a new one- guess heat and hot water come before yarn, at least in February!) But fortunately I'm very easy to entertain - books and my yarn stash can keep me busy and happy for hours/days/weeks/months! So, I finished Northern Lights and started Haunted Ground, finished my entrelac scarf (it's blocking now), finished my ITEIII bag and mailed it, and knit this "Heartbreakingly Cute Kimono" from Mason Dixon Knitting and equally 'heartbreakingly cute hat' from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for a friend's daughter's baby shower next week. And - oh right - I did some organizing, cleaning, etc. - but that doesn't count as a vacation!

Toggle Contest Winner

Thanks for all of your great answers as to what to do with the 'other' part of the toggle. Your answers were all very imaginative and I couldn't pick just one - so I used that handy random number thingy, numbered you in order of your comments - and the winner is.......Annie! Well - that's probably not her real name, so I will have to wait until I receive a certain package in the mail with her real name and address on it so that I can send her the prize - which of course is all those leftover toggle parts LOL. Not really - as I promised the prize is a set of stitch markers. Congratulations Annie!!!

Monthly Dishcloth Swap

I received this pretty butterly dishcloth from Jessica today, along with some tea, Hershey's Kisses, tissues, and a cute handmade card.

Thank's Jessica.

I sent off my ITEIII package today - it's got a long way to go - to the western part of Canada so it will take at least 4-5 days to get there. My upstream pal says she sent mine out too - can't wait!

I finished my 'back-up' tote. The one I was making in case the Aran bag didn't come out right.

It's a 'ballband' bag, but I made this one a little taller and deeper than my last one. I used black Paton's wool and a variegated Lion Brand wool. They both felt evenly and quickly.
I CO 50 stitches and knit in garter for 14 ridges - then picked up 14 stitches along the side, the 50 CO stitches, and 14 on the other side. It was 19 x 15 x 4 before felting and the Icord was 75" long. After felting it is 10 1/2 x 9 x 4. I will probably donate this one to the 8th Grade Chinese Auction.

There are some pretty neat ideas for what to do with the other part of the toggle (see post below). I'll let the contest run a few more days until I pick a winner.

A Little Contest

When I was in A.C.Moore on Saturday looking for beads for my ITEIII bag (see below)
I saw these cute little charms and thought they would make great stitch markers (always have knitting on my mind!). They already had a jump ring attached, so I bought some toggle clasps popped the charms on the ring part of them voila! stitch markers in two sizes, plus the jump ring on the charm itself fits on size 1-3 needles. So, my questions is - what to do with all of the other halves of the toggle clasp? Got any ideas? Post them in the comments, and I'll send a set of stitch markers to the person whose idea is the best!

ITEIII Tote Finished!

My tote for the ITEIII is finished and I've collected the goodies to go in it, and made a little felted change purse with the leftover yarn. If I can bear to part with it I will mail it off to my partner.

This is the Aran Bag from the 2007 Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar - (November 16) with a few modifications. It took 3 skeins of Galway Highland Heather Color 729. The finished bag is 14" wide x 12" high and 28" from the top of the straps to the bottom of the bag. The lining is fabric from my stash (yes, I have a fabric stash too!) which just happened to have all the colors of the yarn in it. It has two pockets sewn into one side. The beads are glass beads from Blue Moon.

The change purse is my own pattern. CO 4 stitches and knit in garter st. increasing one stitch on each side until you have 26 stitches. Then knit in St. st. for 12 inches. BO, sew up side seams and felt. Stuff with a plastic to shape while drying. Sew on a button and cut a slit in the flap for a buttonhole. Fill with goodies! It's 3"x 6" after felting. I love how this yarn felted - you can see the subtle colors of the heather in it. I just may have to buy some more of this yarn and make a felted purse with it.

TGIF

I like the snow, and don't mind driving on it (once it's stopped coming down that is) - but ice is a different story! After the snow storm on Wednesday turned over to rain the temps dropped and it turned back to snow, leaving a layer of ice underneath. Yesterday our front door and garage door were both frozen shut. We had a two-hour delay in starting school while the plows tried to get the roads cleared. My DH had to drive me to work, since I couldn't get my car out of the garage - he has 4 wheel drive so we didn't have a problem. Last night we ran a heater in the garage and defrosted the door. This morning I should have had blades instead of tires on my car because the side roads were a sheet of ice. White knuckle driving all the way! And there is not much hope for a thaw in the near future. The good news is - I'm on vacation next week!!!!
It's our winter vacation - which always falls during the week of President's Day. In Downeast Maine it's basketball tournament time so the folks who aren't lucky enough to be vacationing in Florida, usually spend their time at the Bangor Auditorium watching basketball. Me? I'm going to spend the week knitting and reading! When you think about it - I could go to my LYS and spend a couple of hundred dollars on yarn, and it would still be a cheap vacation - right? If the weather cooperates and the roads are not too bad, I'm going to go on a yarn shop tour - some not so local yarn shops that I have read about on the web and have been wanting to visit. I love winter vacation week!

Entrelac Scarf Progress

I'm starting the third ball of yarn - that means 1/3 to go on the scarf!

Snow Day

We are snowed in today - and the snow is supposed to last well into tomorrow. It's just as well, as we have had so much illness at school this week. Yesterday 87 out of 170 students and 7 staff members were out sick. In 2nd grade were were down to 6 out of 18 students by the end of the day. They have everything from upper respiratory infections, stomach viruses, ear infections, strep throat infections, bronchitis and even pneumonia. Today was supposed to be our Valentine's Day party - but it's looking like we won't have that until Friday. So...what's a person to do? Hmmm- maybe knit some, and read some?
I finished the front and back panels of my Aaron bag last night and sewed it together this morning (wishing I had taken the time to figure out how to knit it in the round and wondering why I didn't stick to a felted bag which covers up all the uneven knitting and felts the ends in securely). It does NOT look like the picture in the knitting pattern a day calendar. And now I know why - the directions do not match the picture.

The directions call for knitting the two side panels of cables in the same direction - the picture shows them going in opposite directions. The center cable is also going in the opposite direction in the picture. And..the ribbing at the top in the picture is wider than the directions called for. I never noticed any of this until I sewed it together of course! I think it is probably still fine, and I actually love it, except that the bottom is not straight, and blocking should fix that. I still have to make the handles and the drawstring with the beads, which I think will add a lot to it, and line it. And if all else fails - I have this back-up bag on the needles!

Sunday

Once again the weekend has gone by much too quickly. I really need more than a two day weekend! Oh well, one more week, and then a week off for winter break. I finally finished one panel of my Aaron bag for the tote exchange. I am not happy with the way the bind off is curling - it's not even at all. I hope blocking will take care of it. One more panel, the straps and the lining to go. Good thing it doesn't have to be mailed out until the middle of March.

Never Knit While Watching Survivor

My favorite reality show began a new season last night and I settled in to watch and knit. (I even have some buffs thanks to Michelle, my KMKS Pal) I knit about 4 inches on my Aaron bag while I was watching, and then realized I had cabled the wrong way (front instead of back) about three repeats down. Ugh! Rippit, rippit. It took me another hour to get back where I was before I started. Lesson Learned!

Knitting to Keep Warm!

My progress on the Aaron bag for the tote exchange is slow going, but then I'm working on the entrelac scarf and another ballband felted bag too. All three of these are such fun knits! And what else is there to do when the temperature is below zero? It's hard to get a good picture of it - the color really has a lot more green in it.

The ballband bag is easy knitting - it's a little bigger than the last one I made and I hope the brighter colors will show up more after felting.

Entrelac Scarf Progress

I can tell that blocking will be crucial with this scarf! But I love the way it is coming out - love the colors in this yarn too. I'm glad I bought an extra three skeins....maybe for matching mittens, or a hat, or even a felted bag.

International Tote Exchange III

I have my partner for ITEIII and except for a couple of preferences, she has pretty much given me permission to experiment on her! I never thought I would chose a non-felted tote - since felting is what I do LOL.

But this bag from the Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar (November 16 - yes I do peek ahead!) is just calling to me to be knit. It calls for Aaron yarn - 100% worsted weight wool, but I am using Galway in a pretty blue/green heather. I have already frogged and re-started. The pattern is not very clear, but I think I have it figured out now. Once the pattern is established I should be able to do it without reading each row. I do have a back-up plan just in case (l) It doesn't come out right, or (2) I can't bear to part with it. My back-up is, of course, felted. This Noro sling purse, but in more earth-tone colors.

Snowy Saturday

We finally have some snow on the ground - not much but enough to cover it. At least it has warmed up (to 20) and I'd rather have the snow than the below zero weather!
So here is my progress on the entrelac scarf. Deb says it is supposed to look puckered and lopsided so I guess I am doing well LOL.

I have my package for my Monthly Dishcloth swap partner ready to go.

I made the Mason Dixon dishcloth in her kitchen colors and a ballband 'warshcloth'. I'm also including a soap sack to match with some oatmeal/almond soap in it, a cinnamon stick candle and some Cafe Vienna.

Hope she likes the package!

I'm puppy sitting this weekend. This is Casper - isn't he adorable? He is a Maltese and just the sweetest dog.

Spring is on theWay!

Phil Says Spring is Right Around the Corner!

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/07 at 7:28 a.m. at Gobbler's Knob:

El Nino has caused high winds, heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures in the west.
Here in the East with much mild winter weather we have been blessed.

Global warming has caused a great debate.
This mild winter makes it seem just great.

On this Groundhog Day we think of one thing.
Will we have winter or will we have spring?

On Gobbler's Knob I see no shadow today.
I predict that early spring is on the way.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

We've been in the deep freeze all week with temps in the single numbers and windchills well below zero. Today it warmed up enough so that it could snow! And, we finally got the kids outdoors for recess after a week of indoor recesses.

I'm doing an entrelac scarf KAL that Deb is hosting on WhoDuKnit. We've done the border and the first three triangles, and with Deb's help, it has been really easy so far. It takes three skeins of Noro - I'm using Kureyon in color 40 . It's blues/greens/ purples, which you can't really see yet in this picture. Here is my progress:

International Tote Exchange III

Here are my answers to the questionnaire for the Tote Exchange:


2007Questionnaire1. Name and blogger handle: JaneV
2. Blog URL (if applicable): http://janevdoviak.blogspot.com
3. Do you want a purse that is felted - surprise me!
4. Color/fiber likes and dislikes: I like blue, green, purple, pink, brown, black, red, just about any color. I have no fiber allergies - love it all!
5. Do you tend to be dressy or casual? Casual
6. Prefer a pal who lives in the USA or international? USA
7. Miscellaneous info (anything you want to tell your pal): The best part of these exchanges is meeting new people with the same interests - so I can't wait to 'meet' you, and hope I will hear from you often!

I received my pal's name for this swap and also for the dishcloth exchange. My dishcloth exchange partner's kitchen is blue/green/yellow, and I just happen to have a skein of Sugar N' Cream in blue/green/yellow variegated! I started the Mason-dixon washcloth - twice! The first time I read the directions wrong, but at least I had only done 4 rows. Still - with all of those stitches cast on I was not happy to have to frog it and CO again! It's a round cloth, with bobbles and eyelets, and I've been wanting to try it. I will probably make her a ballband 'warshcloth' too in green and yellow, and maybe a soap sack too with some handmade soap.
Now - I have to figure out what to make for my ITIII SP.

My First Post on New Blogger!

Well, blogger was getting pretty persistant - so I took the plunge and moved.....it was painless and nothing has changed on my blog, so I guess they got all the kinks worked out - at least I hope!

I finished the Aibhlinn from Knitty.com - it's a cowl and I used Alpaca yarn instead of the cotton called for in the pattern, and only made it half as long. I love the pattern, but I'm not quite sure how to wear it.

I started my 'thrum' mitten from my KMKS - it's on two needles - looks brown in the picture for some reason, but it is actually green. The inside looks quite strange! I think the idea is that as you wear them the inside fleece felts and bonds together so you don't have all those loose pieces of fleece hanging around.

Thank You

Thanks to all of you for you Anniversary wishes. And just in case you are wondering - I'm about twice that size now - and I didn't grow any taller LOL!

Anniversary

42 years ago today it was snowing in my hometown of Clifton New Jersey, and I was getting ready for my wedding! How could so many years have gone by? How could we have been so young? When did we get so old? How could we have been so thin???

It's Michelle in Colorado Springs!

My KMKS is Michelle in Colorado Springs! Thank you Michelle!

KMKS Package

I got home from work today and found a notice that I had a certified package at the post office that could be picked up after 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Well, there is no way I was waiting until tomorrow for my package! This is a small town and I knew the mail truck (car) would be back at the PO by 4 - so I went up to see if I could get it, and sure enough, he was just walking in the door with it.
Here is what was in it:

A beautiful felted bag, a cute cloth bag, both in my favorite colors, two books,
Maggie Sefton's Knit One Kill two, and Laura Child's The English Breakfast Murders (she knew I liked mysteries),
a beautiful box of chocolates!, a noodle mix and a rice mix that both look delicious, some pretty tubes of fabric, that I don't quite have figured out yet. The yarn is Lambs Pride Bulky in a pretty green along with some beautiful roving and a pattern for 'thrum' mittens, which I have been wanting to make. She also included a scarf pattern.
There is only one thing missing from this package - I still don't know who my pal is!!!! Whoever you are - thank you so much for a great package!

Lazy Sunday (Edited especially for Linda)

Cold outside - 12 degrees - windchill well below zero
Warm inside
Coffee and donuts for breakfast (very bad!)
Sunday paper
knitting - Aibhlinn from Knitty in Alpaca
Reading - James Patterson's Cross
Drinking tea - Vanilla Caramel
Chatting on-line
Roasting a chicken (with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravey, creamed spinach, biscuits - pure comfort food)
Wine - Merlot
Knitting a ballband 'warshcloth'
Watching football - Go Colts!!!!!

Hooray for lazy Sundays!!!

KMKS

My KMKS pal, Linda, received her package today and I think she liked it!

SNOW DAY

We had a snow day today - but we actually got more rain than snow here on the coast. It didn't turn over to snow until noon - but I'm not complaining about having a day off! Actually I'm fighting off a cold, so I just watched HGTV and DIY and knit. I made the 'ball band' felted purse from the pattern that Monica was nice enough to post on her blog. I used Paton's Classic wool in black and LionBrand Wool in "Ocean Blues". It's 12 x 16 before felting. It felted down to 8 x 81/2 x 2 1/2" deep and is drying now. Here is the pattern. I like the way it came out but If I made another one I would probably make it deeper, and use a brighter contrasting yarn so the black slip-stitches would show up better.

Page 123 Meme

The Page 123 Meme
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.
3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Include the title and the author's name.
5. Tag 3 People.

It was almost 4:00 A.M., and Sampson and I were riding back to the First district station house in his car. I was wide awake now, and wired. My nervous system felt like it was vibrating. Maria's murderer? After all these years? Was it even a

Cross by James Patterson

Oh Baby!

These are gifts for two co-workers who are expecting babies in February - we are having a combined shower for them on Friday. The hats are from Pick Up Sticks, both made in the smallest size. The pink ballerina slippers are "pitter patter" from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting, but they are really a tiny version of the Fiber Trends ballet slipper pattern. The boys booties are from a free pattern at Warm Woolies They are a great pattern for charity knitting too. The bibs, of course, are "Bibs O Love" from Mason Dixon Knitting. I may make a couple more if I have time before the shower on Friday. There are basketball games (my grandchildren play) every day this week, and the bibs make great basketball watching knitting!

Christmas Keeps on Coming!

I came home today and found three packages had been delivered - none of which I will receive a bill for! The first I opened was my Winter Wonderland Swap package from Toni The package included two of the softest washcloths, machine knit with baby terry, a ball of Sugar n' Cream yarn, a magnetic note pad, and some beautiful handmade earrings and stitch markers. The second package was my order from Purely Alpaca that I got with my gift certificate from my sister-in-law. In it were the three skeins of Classic Alpaca that I had ordered, which are a beautiful shade of lavender and very soft. But..that wasn't all. As a thank you they included an adorable alpaca farmers pin,
and...a gold foil wrapped piece of chocolate! Now, any company that includes chocolate with their yarn order will certainly get another order from me! The third package had already been opened by my DH, as it was for him - a box of Omaha Steaks, ordered with a gift certificate that he received for Christmas- in fact, two of the steaks are cooking right now - on the grill, in January, in Maine!

First FOs of the New Year

Now that Christmas is over I have been busy knitting baby things. Three babies are due soon. My nephew and his wife are expecting a boy at the end of this month, and two co-workers are expecting babies in February - one a girl and one a boy.
My nephew's wife's shower is next weekend - so that had to be done by this weekend and in the mail bright and early Monday morning. The sacque and bonnet are from a Leisure Arts booklet, Precious Layettes to Knit. They are made with slip stitches, much like the ballband dishcloths are. The drawstring pants are from Last-Minute Kitted Gifts. The whole set is made with Caron's Simply Soft, which is machine wash and dry and really holds up well - a must for a baby garment!
I have also finished four "Bibs of Love" from Mason Dixon Knitting. They are made from Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn for the other baby boy. Next on my list to knit is a tiny pair of felted Mary Jane's from Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting and the Two-Striped Flopsy hat by Pick Up Sticks for the baby girl on my list. We are having a combined shower for these two co-workers on January 18 so I need to speed knit!