Another Chick with Sticks

Well. I finished the Latoya Tank from Berroco.

Words cannot describe the end result of this project.  I know many of you knitters out there can identify with how I feel.

The pattern was fine and I’m in no way knocking the designer or Berroco. The concept of the tank is great and it does look really nice on the model on their website.

BUT

When a 5’9″ gal like myself knit this up and tried it on – too short. Even though I lengthened it by 2″.

I have been knitting on this on and off for a little over a week. I was happy with how it was turning out and couldn’t wait to try it on. I even changed the straps to seed stitch after reading from other Ravelers that the garter stitch straps would stretch.

So I seamed it all up today and tried it on………and felt like I wanted to cry! lol

I did try it on just by itself and it just didn’t seem to look right. So I tried wearing it over a variety of short sleeve tops or short sleeve blouses with collars hoping that it would look great in a layered look.

Nothin.

So the few pics I did snap of  it were taken when I threw it on over a short sleeve gray tee.

And the pics are only glimpses. I can’t bring myself to photograph the entire thing on me………….

….but I could take a pic of it on the table.

You don’t always get what you knit for.

Amen!

I’ll be knitting my socks next. A small project to work on while I mourn the failure of this tank.

Enjoy your evening guys!

Hope everyone is having a great day! We had a major, incredible thunderstorm come through CT last night – the thunder shook the house and we lost power twice. But all is sunny and bright now and best of all – it’s Friday!!

Before the storm came through I dragged my husband with me to the local Goodwill store before we went grocery shopping. I was in the mood to treasure hunt and this is what I found:

An awesome set of 3 navy blue baskets and a really nice pedestal style dish – I couldn’t pass it up!

I paid $5 for all four!

Can’t beat that, lol.

My order from KnitPicks arrived last Saturday! The Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Wisteria is lovely…

So I swatched and cast on for the Elaine Blouse that I mentioned in the last post.

I hope to finish the Latoya tank this afternoon though. I’m nearly finished!!

Enjoy the day!

Pattern:  Hey Teach by Helene Rush

Needles:  US 8

Yarn:   Lion Brand CottonEase in plum

I finished it and have worn this quite a few times in the past few weeks.  I do like it because you can dress it up or down.  I’ve worn this to the office and received many compliments on it. Made my day! lol

I did change the pattern by only knitting one band of the lace pattern above the ribbing. I found the lace pattern difficult to line up once the decreasing for the arm holes came up.  I’m still happy with how it came out.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! I spent mine with the family and enjoyed the fireworks. Now that it seems the rain spells have passed I can head outside to garden, sit by my fire pit at night, and of course – knit!

On the needles right now is  Berroco’s  “Latoya” an asymetrical cabled tank that I think will look really cute worn over a short sleeve blouse. Again, it can be dressed up or down – which is what I look for most when choosing patterns.

I’m already half done. I chose CottonEase again because it’s great for summer and I love the color..here is a picture of the back…

I’m finding that it’s a very quick knit – the pattern is written well and there aren’t any issues.

I am anxiously awaiting my order from KnitPicks.com which should be here any day now! I ordered the yarn for my next two patterns:

The Elaine Blouse from Interweave Knits which I love! I’m going to change the lace design on the front to a mock cable rib.

I adore the back!

I also ordered merino sock yarn for the Herringbone  Rib Socks from the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. The pattern was included in Interweave Knits and I can’t resist.

So now I will continue to wait for my box of yarn goodliness to arrive.  I will share pics with you when it’s here!

Till then enjoy the sunshine!

I finished the scarf!                                       

Pattern:  Brooke’s Column of Leaves

Yarn:  Vanna’s Choice  in Olive

Needles:  US  7

Love, love, love this scarf! The pattern was really fun..never boring. I have carefully stored this away for fall/winter.

On the needles right now is  the “Hey Teach” cardigan which is almost finished! Tonight I’ll finish up the sleeves.  I have altered the design on this a little…you’ll see pics shortly!

Berroco has announced their new yarns and patterns for Fall/Winter ’09 and they are amazing! My needles are ready!   I have chosen a few to start with, lol.

Norah Gaughan is a genius and I adore all her new designs. From Norah Gaughan Men I’ll be knitting ‘Devon’ for my husband with Peruvia Quick.

On my list is Berroc’s new yarn, Blackstone Tweed

which I’ll use to knit up “Napoleon”

I also love ‘Aningah’ which calls for Merino.

Visit Berroco and take a peek at all the stunning new patterns and yarns!

I’m very excited! On Saturday I’ll be heading up to North Hampton, Mass. to visit WEBS! You can visit and shop online at www.yarn.com.  I literally cannot contain my excitement over being in one of the largest yarn shops in New England -  I’ll definitley be giving you a full recap of the trip with photos!

While there, I hope to buy Twinkle Handknits Soft Chunky for “Wrenna” from French Girl Knits. I’ve had the book for a while now and “Wrenna” is calling to me.

Sigh……I love it.

My next post will be the ‘Hey Teach’ finished cardi!

‘Till then!

and I’m ready to catch up!

My poor little blog has been neglected lately so I’m here to bring some life back into it. I have been amazingly busy with work, the kids, gardening, knitting, family, the list is endless.

I have been knitting – really I have!

Here is Summerlin from Ravelry that I made into a top, not a dress. Jocelyn LOVES it! I see myself making at least three more. The pattern is extremely easy, only taking me roughly 3 hours to complete. I love the look of knit and fabric together ~ there is something very charming about it. Plus this is a great way to use up the fabric I’ve been hoarding the past six months.

I have also finished the cardigan for her that I had mentioned in a previous post. Came out great!

I have been spending a lot of my spare time gardening.

Or sitting in the garden knitting towards the end of the day. That is my absolute most favorite time of the day.

On the needles right now are Bella’s Mittens. Being a Twilight saga fan, I am in love with these mittens – not only because she wore them in the movie (see my earlier post) but because they are genuinely wonderful, warm, woolen mittens. I love the length and the horseshoe cable pattern. Not to mention that these are an easy knit.

I also couldn’t resist casting on the Brooke’s Column of Leaves scarf pattern, so I have this going as well.

I’m using a skein of Vanna’s Choice in Olive for this one.  The next will be with a yarn that contains at least some wool in it. Not that I’m being snobby about acrylic yarn – it washes great and knits up well.  I do like to knit with wool blends though.

So I seem to be leaning more towards smaller projects that are easier to take along places and are quicker to finish with the warmer weather. I will be getting a good head start on fall/winter knitting this summer…..

Among the camping and fishing trips, day trips, the kids activities, cooking, cleaning, shopping, working…..sigh.

Be back soon!

Good Morning all! I hope everyone is keeping warm today. I’m happy to say that here in Connecticut we are officially shoveled out. A foot of snow has put a damper on my anticipation of spring…but I know that it’s just around the corner.

On the homefront, I have to tell you that our cat Pepper had her kittens last Wednesday!      

Mom
and all 4 kittens are doing great! This picture is not the greatest, but you can get a good view of them. They are the sweetest and just make your heart melt

Knitwise, I am finishing the Fish Tail lace vest today, so I will post pictures on Thursday. I also ordered my copy of French Girl Knits by Kathleen Griffin-Grimes this morning. I can’t wait to read this!

It’s Too Cool Tuesday!! Today, I have to show you this absolutely fabulous line of soaps and lotions geared especially for knitters. All are handmade by Kathy Bray. Her company is called Alsatian Soaps and has been featured in magazines such as Knit Simple and Woman’s Day. Visit her website at www.AlsatianSoaps.com.

Browse through the Knitter’s Hands section and you will see so many sweet products like this 2oz Verbena Lotion bar tin,

featuring a vintage print of a woman knitting.

4oz Shea Butter, Honey &  Almond. I absolutely adore the skein of yarn and knitting needles form in the soap!

I also love this bar of Vintage Knitters Soap with shea butter, featuring the image of a woman and young girl knitting.

You must treat yourself and visit her site! You will find many, many more awesome products – all handmade and never tested on animals!

*Images of soap products are copyright AlsatianSoap.com

Have a great day everyone!!

I am getting more and more excited about Spring with each day that passes, especially now that I can tuck away the wool and tweed yarns and start knitting with cottons and linens.

Last night after work, and after the kids were tucked in, I curled up and poured over the new Spring edition of Interweave Knits…I’ve been looking forward to this issue for a while now and I loved it!

Here are two that are on my knitting to-do list…First is the diminishing rib cardigan. Unique because it has no closure, but I’m thinking a vintage looking pin at the top to close would look sweet.

Next is the Silk Cocoon Cardigan, which I’m thinking of knitting in a soft spring green color.

Perusing Ravelry, I also added the Molly

Ringwald top (I just love the name) to my faves as well. I’ll definitley knit this in a shade of pink.

On the WIP’s front, the Fish Tail Tank is coming along great! The front is finished

Here’s the lower edge (fish tail lace portion)…I think it came out pretty nice…

It’s a great pattern and when it’s finished should look cool over a top with a pair of jeans.

Have a great day! Go Knit!

Hi!  Hope everyone has been keeping busy ~  I’m  planning my  middle son’s birthday, which is Feb. 17th, right now. Dinner out with family  and a cake at the restuarant of his choice. Keeping it simple  but fun . My oldest son turned 12  just  2 weeks ago.  We had his birthday dinner at Boston’s and  everyone had a great time.  The waiter had the whole restaurant sing Happy B-day to him, which as you can see here, he was a little embarrassed. lol.

Sigh, I can’t believe he’s 12 already!  Here is another pic of my 2 younger kids and I….trying to hang on to all of them before I blink and they’re going off to college.

As of 3:25 pm today, I officially have all 3 home for February vacation.  I  have activities and games and little trips here and there planned, so  everything should go smoothly. I’ll blog about it of course…I’ve been very inspired by my BFF  and all her organizing and crafts.

On the knitting front, my WIP’s are coming along. I have to say that I am  a girl who likes to have  more than one WIP going at a time.  And not just knitting. I also adore counted cross stitch  so I finally broke down and ordered the Summer Sampler from 123stitch.com today. I’ve had my eye on it for a while, and  can’t wait till it arrives.  I am starting with Summer because I don’t know how long this will take to finish and I like to  keep a season ahead anyway.  Here is a pic of the Spring one…I must have this one too!
On the knitting front, I added one more WIP – the Fish Tail Vest from Erin’s knitting blog. (Here is her pic from her blog of the vest)

For the pattern just hop on over to her blog at www.erinknitting.wordpress.com

This is knitting up very quickly so I’ll be able to post the finished item very soon. I just love it – I’m knitting mine in purple of course, and think it’ll look great with jeans and a top underneath. It can go with anything, though, which is part of the reason I chose it.

Off to knit now! Have a great day!

I saw a story on the news last night about a woman who is known as ‘the coupon queen’. The cameras followed her on a weekly grocery shopping trip where, at the check out, she paid $19.38 for a $220.00 order.  In one single trip.  Shocked, I decided to try to find the story online this morning but there was no link on the news site. I did find very similar stories of other women across the country who are doing the exact same thing, though.

A coupon queen in Quincy, Ill. feeds her family of four for an average of $70.00 per week. She also started a website www.jeepmomsavings.com where she alphabetically lists companies that you can send an email to to request manufacturer coupons. Great idea! You can read the news story at http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=162473

I admit, I haven’t been using as many coupons as I could be (or should be). I am vowing to become a coupon queen. I know I may not see results for at least a month, but I’m committing to it.

First, I need to have a Coupon Binder.  See how to make yours at Ehow.com.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2213817_organize-coupon-binder.html

You’ll need baseball protector sheets, a pencil pouch, a binder, dividers and a couple large folders. Piece of cake.

I will also need to brush up on Coupon Lingo. Great tips in this article by a woman who regularly spends $10.00 for $100.00 worth of groceries each week.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4448872_understand-coupon-lingo-free-groceries.html

Don’t forget online coupon sites to print coupons too!

check out  coolsavings.com and coupons.com.

If you have more tips to add, comment!!!

Moving on to my yarn stash, in the midst of my other WIP’s, my daughter asked me to make her a ‘flower blanket’ for her room. Tall order, lol. I decided to crochet it as it will go much faster. I found the cutest daisy square on CrochetMaryEllen’s blog:

For the pattern:

http://crochetmaryellen.blogspot.com/2007/06/easy-daisy-granny-square.html

Have a great day! Stay warm!!!