Karen Stewart: Knitting

Sat, 27 Mar 2004 21:18:52 GMT

Not much knitting--still waiting for my order to arrive from Peace Fleece so I can finish the Candle Flame shawl. I try to do a few rows every night on my critter blanket, but the going is slow.

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 06:36:11 GMT

Here's a closer shot of the pattern stitch. It is pretty lumpy right now, but I'm hoping it will smooth out when blocked. I really like this pattern and may try it again in lace weight yarn and smaller needles.

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 06:34:43 GMT

Here's a photo of the Candle Flame Shawl draped over the back of a chair. This has taken 4 full skeins of Peace Fleece on size 10.5 US needles. One pattern repeat and the border should require 1 more skein.

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 05:58:02 GMT

While waiting for more yarn to arrive for the Candle Flame shawl, I've started a simple seed stitch blanket for the Critter Knitters Knit-a-thon. I will also be making extras for my local animal shelter. I have done almost no knitting this weekend--lots of updating for the Orchids site. I'm also just about finished with a mini altered book for a swap. Look for photos in a few days.

Thu, 18 Mar 2004 01:06:50 GMT

The candle flame shawl is moving along nicely. I had to order another skein of Peace Fleece, so it will be another week or so before I can call this one finished.

I've been updating and adding new content to the orchids site that I host at Bellaonline.com. Too bad the days aren't a little longer--too many things to do to squeeze into just 24 hours. Now for a shameless plug--there is currently a sweepstakes running that will net one winner $50 in free orchids. You can enter once a day for any of the sweeps at Bella--there are some great sponsors that keep the prizes coming.

Mon, 01 Mar 2004 00:06:07 GMT

Check out the premiere issue of a new online knitting magazine -- MagKnits. I liked the first issue and the little footies might be a future project on my growing to-do list.

Sat, 28 Feb 2004 19:24:16 GMT

Here it is Saturday again. I can't believe the weeks are zipping by so quickly. 2 months of 2004 are kaput already!

I didn't do much knitting during the week. Too tired in the evenings and too busy reading on my lunch hour. I just finished 1st to Die by James Patterson. This is the first in the "Women's Murder Club" series. Knitting-wise, I just I started a Candle Flame shawl in red Peace Fleece worsted. I know, the last thing I needed was to start another shawl, but I liked the pattern and the yarn is such a pretty color and you know the rest.

Sat, 21 Feb 2004 18:59:58 GMT

Here are the finished sock from my last post. I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool that was dyed with Wilton cake icing colors. The pattern is my old stand-by called the North Country Cotton baby sock. I've never actually made a pair using the cotton yarn, but it's great for worsted weight wool using US size 6 dpn's.

Sat, 21 Feb 2004 17:44:26 GMT

After a long week at work, I'm planning on a quiet weekend. It's supposed to be raining on and off, so I will sit and knit as much as possible. I have another pair of socks for CIC almost finished. This month's challenge on CIC-Knit is to send as many socks as possible to be included in the next mega trip to deliver the warm items to the orphanages. I'll be mailing quite a few little pairs next week.

I also have some altered book RR's to work on and get mailed early next week. I'm thinking about joining a new mini AB swap and want to go to Barnes & Noble to try and find a book I'm happy with before I commit to the project.

Sat, 14 Feb 2004 18:05:31 GMT

Check it out--I turned around this morning to look out the patio door and saw this hawk. I grabbed the new camera and took a couple of shots right through the sliding glass door. This is the best one--the bird was moving around too much to get good focus on the others. How lucky was this timing??

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 04:09:36 GMT

I got a new camera today!! In honor of that fact, I took a photo of my newest project. This the beginning of a shawl from Myrna "Stahman's Shawls and Scarves" book. This is my first attempt at one of these patterns, so I decided to go the simple route and make "Fenna". This is strictly garter stitch--no charts to slow me down. I'm making it in the Gold Hill colorway by Lorna's Laces.

The colors aren't accurate in this photo, but IRL they look very nice.

Sun, 01 Feb 2004 05:19:47 GMT

Second nature shot of the day. These little cuties are sweet peas seedlings in a big pot on the patio. I love sweet peas and can't wait until they are in bloom.

Sun, 18 Jan 2004 22:50:16 GMT

I'm still on a sock knitting kick. I have a couple pairs finished for CIC, but no photos yet.

Sat, 10 Jan 2004 16:40:01 GMT

Isn't this a cute kitty picture?? That's also Oreo peeking out of the upper corner of the vest/socks photo. She was already settled onto my bed to while away the daytime hours. I had to work fast to keep her from rubbing all over the knit goodies. The little princess uses my bed for her daytime throne and the living room love seat for her evening hours.

Sat, 10 Jan 2004 16:32:51 GMT

I'm sending off a package for Children in Common today. I took a photo this morning--not the greatest because of the contrast, but you get the idea. There are two toddler-size vests and eight pairs of socks. The vest on the left is crocheted from a pattern posted to the CIC yahoo group using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. I dyed one skein with Wilton cake icing dyes and used it to make the stripe and contrasting trim around the neck and armholes.

The dark green vest is make from some heavy weight eBay yarn. Very stiff and hard to work with, but much softer after washing. The pattern is from Claudia at Countrywool.

The socks are made from a variety of yarns. Some are leftovers of Regia sock yarn mixed with a strand of wool that I won in another eBay auction. The neutral color of that strand seems to mix with any color to make a nice, tweedy finished product.

Sun, 28 Dec 2003 16:54:51 GMT

I finally feel like I have time to sit and post something. The hats I made for Christmas gifts went over well, I think. The face mask turned out fine--just took forever. J wore it a couple of times while he was here and will put it to good use on his commutes to work. I forgot to get a picture before he went back to his place, though.

I finished my Booga Bag and it is just waiting for a trip to the hot water for felting. I love the Kureyon colors and wish I could justify making another one or two I already have more bags than I need, though, and must show some restraint Dear son, J, got me a cool canvas tote bag for Christmas. It has pockets on the inside and will be nice for my lunchtime projects. My next project is another beanie from the Crazy Cap pattern at Wildhorse Farm Designs. Couldn't find any Regia Crazy Colors, so I'm using Regia 6 in a pretty combo of green, royal blue, grey and white. Using small needles again (size 4) after using the 10.5's for the Booga bag is a little strange--my hands are still adjusting.

It's chilly here in Surf City and I plan to stay close to home and knit. I will face taking down the tree and decorations in a few days.

Sun, 21 Dec 2003 04:06:21 GMT

It will be a long time before I tackle a project with K2P2 ribbing. J requested a face mask for his bike-riding commute to work. I found pattern in a Cottage Creations book and dove in with some Wool-Ease. By the time this thing is finished, I will have done about 13" of ribbing. I hate how the change in yarn position makes for such slow knitting. I thought this might be finished in time for Christmas, but maybe not--still lots to do and not much time.

Sat, 20 Dec 2003 06:08:40 GMT

Here's a little sock that I finished last week. I still need to finish the mate, but wanted to test out the new scanner that was part of my computer package deal. Looks pretty good, but I need to work on making the background lighter.

Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:18:52 GMT

I have a new computer and even though I made what I thought was a working backup of the old posts and photos, it is taking forever to try and figure it all out. I give up and will just start fresh. I've been knitting beanies for gifts and will try and get some photos posted.