Sleeves...we have Sleeves...Attached!

Finally.



Added little simple wooden buttons.



oh, and a hat to complete the ensemble.



so glad this is completed, because I then was able to whip out these little lovelies.



My first cupcake from the wonderful Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits, a order for 15 has been placed for a certain 9 yr old's upcoming birthday.


And then my Coopers Flock bird.
Please click on the icon at the top of my blog to read more about Cooper.

Guitar Sonata Complete

Many weeks ago I gave a preview of a pair of gloves for Ben.

Guitar Sonatas are now complete.

They have actually been finished for quite some time, I just needed to sew the top and thumb

flaps on to the mittens, add the button and crochet loop.

I finally just sat down on Sunday afternoon and finished them up.
I really hate works in progress (wips). I am definitely in the camp of don't start something new until the current project finished.

I do this with everything....to much clutter, clutters me up.

Chaos creates Chaos, this is my mantra and I am sticking to it.
I know that many natural creative types crave that clutter and chaos, but not me, no sir, no thank you ma'am!

So does that make me not a natural creative type?

I don't know, but I know I just need it to be clean and organized to allow me to think and process.

I have told this often to the very messy man I live with.

You Might Think This is a Yarn Shoppe

But we are actually working today at DML, CPA, PLLC!
It's Tax Season you know!!!

Since beginning my ever growing yarn stash, I have dreamed of owning my own swift and ball winder.

Wendy, my co-worker and friend at said office has also recently caught the knitting bug, and she found a great sale on swifts and winders at Joanns.com

After a mere 2 seconds of discussion, we decided that if we split the cost we would both be out a mere $32.00.

I know!

That is just the cost of 1 skein of Hand Maiden Yarn

.

So while the big boss man was out of the office doing all sorts of "tax season" business, Wendy made a lunch hour trip to Red Purl and we spun our 1st cake of yarn!

Squeals of Delight were forthcoming and abundant!

Baby Sweater Update

The sleeves that were....are no more.

With the advice of a knitting friend who has many sweaters under her belt, I frogged the sleeves.

I will be knitting new sleeves with a larger percentage of increases to achieve a wider base in which to attach.

Francie said I could probably make the sleeves fit, but it would require stretching them quite alot, envision the medieval rack or tying the sleeves between 2 tractor trailers. I felt more comfortable with reworking them to the proper size.

I question still is...if everything was knit to the proper size, why should I have to rework?

Baby Sweater Horrors!

See that lovely photo in the pattern book, see all that lovely stockinette stitch, see a 75% completed baby sweater?

If I do not figure out how the sleeves fit, tomorrow you will see this project frogged!!!
Ok, here is the deal, I followed the pattern with no deviations, I blocked all the pieces exactly to the schematic. I joined the shoulder seams. I picked up the edge, and neck bands, I garter stitched.

Everything was going fine, until.......the sleeves!
There is no possible way to fit them in the space allowed, it appears to me that the sleeves should be at least 3" wider. Or, do I attach the top of the side seam to the bottom of the sleeve, yikes, that just doesn't seem correct.

Will have to call in for re enforcement...the saga will continue.

Yarn Quest

My fellow gardening and knitting friend Ardie, and I decided to have a Yarn Quest this last Saturday. Our goal was to visit as many local yarn shops as possible within an hour or so drive from home.

We planned on stopping at Needle in a Haystack.
We found out that Needle did not open until 11a, we had alot of ground to cover and had to move on.

So, our 1st stop was a old favorite Lizzie Ann's Wool Company.
Imagine our surprise when we walked in to this.



Carding machines, bats of roving, bags of roving, drafted roving, handspun yarn, and 9 very nice, gracious, helpful, fun spinners!

You might guess what came next.....



Yep, I'm spinning in heels! (cue Carrie Bradshaw).

First you learn to "treadle" which sounds and looks simple, but not so much. You have to pedal with both feet to keep your wheel spinning the same direction and not back upon itself.
The easiest way to describe this is; Your right foot does most of the work and your left foot holds the tension.

Note to self: easier without the 2" heels.

Then you learn the important terms; pinching, drafting, predrafting, orifice, feeding, bobbins, and many more I am sure I have forgotten.



See how that wheel is turning!

The ladies were most encouraging and after 2 hours,I ended up taking home a pitiful little skein of my own spun yarn. Unusable, but a memento all the same.

Many thanks to Lindy, CJ Kopec Creations, and Yarn Hollow.

Onward to our next stop Threadbender.
We found Threadbender to have many nice yarns, but a rather dated feel to the shop.

I did indulge in 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden.

Still working on our spinning high we head further north to City Knitting in Grand Rapids.



City Knitting being just within our parameters of 1 hour 10 mins from home is well worth visiting!

Ardie and I spent the rest of the day there and picked up several wonderful yarns.

We finished our day with a late lunch/early supper at The Green Well, and a stop at my friend Amy's shop, Art of the Table.
A wonderful wine and tabletop giftware shoppe.

I came home tired but oh so happy, and ready to plan the next excursion.

Next time we will head south and west so we can be sure to fit in my very favorite LYS, The Red Purl.

Fruits & Veg

In an effort to downsize before the Garden Shoppe opens, I went looking for some healthy snacks.

The first thing that caught my eye were these perfect pears.

Red Grapes, Kiwi, mangoes and bananas soon found their way into my basket.

Now to the freezer for backyard grown veg.

I feel healthier already.

Guitar Sonata

Niece Mallory's boyfriend Ben is a fantastic guitar player, musician, and songwriter.
Ben is not seen very often without his guitar, Mallory is not seen very often, not at Ben's feet while he is playing.

Mal asked me if I could knit a pair of fingerless gloves for Ben so he can keep those fingers warm and still continue to play. They had 1 request, make the gloves convertible so he could flip up a mitten to keep the whole hand warm, and to also make a thumb mitten.

Found the perfect pattern 'Pink Sonata' in Vogue Knitting Fall 2008.
Now had to find the yarn. Mal and Ben gave me little to work with on yarn colour, just a adamant not "navy blue".

As I was finishing up the the Cabled Socks realized I had most of 1 skein of yarn left. Knew that my yarn stash had several other skeins of Claudia Handpainted.

Ben's Gloves will be worked with Butter Pecan and Black Walnut.

Love the way these two colours look together. Earthy, masculine, fun.

The first glove is complete except for weaving in the ends and working up the mitten caps. The caps will be worked in the darker Black Walnut. I should have the caps completed by tomorrow and will post more photos.