Updated patterns!

I'm in the process of updating my old patterns, particularly the bibs, to include charts. I'm rewriting some of the directions to make the patterns even easier and including alternative methods for beginning the bibs and for making the ties. Look for these patterns in the sidebar to see which ones have been added. It's a slow process, but eventually, they'll all be there!



Friday, November 9, 2012

Eye Candy

Since I'm a little lean on knitting projects to share, I thought you might enjoy just seeing some pictures of yarn!  Some of them were birthday presents and some were just impulses.  With my husband still laid up and unable to do any shopping, it was great fun just getting whatever I wanted.  My friend, Kathy, who lives in Iowa and is affectionately known as just "Iowa Kathy" in my house, hooked me up with this wonderful dyer on Etsy. Not only does Jennifer dye beautiful yarn, but she's a lovely person as well.  I could (and have) spent lots and lots of time just admiring all her different colorways.  I don't know whether to thank Kathy or curse her!

I love this green, even if she did name it after a new lizard they acquired.  It's called "Anole".  I have a special project in mind for this so I can't talk about it yet.
Of course, my favorite shade of green is this one called "Lime Rickey":


I got this one with my grandson, Mickey, in mind since he loves blue. He told me the other day that he really NEEDS socks. He's the one that decided he only wanted to wear "grandma socks" when he was about three. Back then, his feet were small. Now they're huge and he's only seven.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  I hope that's the case, since I totally bought this yarn because of Kathy.  She made herself some socks out of this colorway and I just loved them.  You can check them out on her blog here and here.  She's so talented!  The yarn is called "Jack O'Lantern" and you can see why!:
Finally, I found this great yarn for my youngest grandson, Marty.  Believe it or not, white is his favorite color.  His stuffed animal that goes with him everywhere has two favorite colors:  orange and yellow.  When I saw this yarn, also on Etsy, I knew I'd have to get it for him:
It's called "Jimmy Cracked Corn".  There's enough yarn to make him socks and fingerless gloves.  This dyer is here.  I don't want his head to be cold, so I also picked up this worsted weight yarn:
Can you see the name of this?  It's "Candy Corn".  How appropriate.  This yarn is by Gnome Acres and you can check her out here.
Now, I do have one project to share.  My boss has a new dog he rescued from a shelter.  He and his wife never owned a dog in either of their lives, but since their only son left for law school, they were lonely.  Max has taken over and is being thoroughly spoiled.  I thought he could use a sweater for his first winter:
It's an old pattern from a Woman's Day leaflet published in 1969.  I made sure the seams were sewn in nice and tight and wouldn't you know, it was too small!!  I ended up having to rip out the under panel.  I also decided to unravel all four inches of ribbing and add another couple of inches to the length.  Then I made the under panel twice as wide and lengthened the leg openings.  I don't know what kind of dog the designer thought was "medium", but it obviously wasn't Max!  The yarn is Cascade Superwash 220.
Max didn't like putting it on (or taking it off).  We had our first snow of the season the other day, so I'm hoping that when more of this cold weather sticks around, he'll change his mind!