Eastside Stitchers Celebrate Birthdays... with Cupcakes

Eastside Stitchers

The Eastside Stitchers met tonight, as we do every Wednesday night, at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue.  We started out with only 3 of us, and then the party began!

Chockelet was knitting her fabulous Noro scarf,














Cleothyla had brought a baby blanket to knit,

I was... weaving in ends again!

Then Ellyol showed up with a new scarf she was hooking, and














she had brought a friend to join our little group.

Chatzy, Ellyol's friend, brought a baby blanket,  and an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket.

We had all just settled down again, when Angelvet and  Tassereine surprised us with Cupcakes!

They were there to celebrate both Cleothyla's and Tassereine's birthdays.

Angelvet had also brought a snuggly baby blanket she was knitting

Tassereine brought her 2-at-a-Time sparkly "Glitter Diamond Socks."  The pattern is her own.  I took two photos because the blurry one shows the sparkles, and the focused one shows the socks.

Then, as though that wasn't enough fun, Colleen came and joined in the party!  She has finished her beautiful lace baby blanket she had  brought before and was starting a new hat.

We missed MzWiz, Allifer, and Tara. and all of the other friends who come to Crossroads to Knit with the gang.

Hope to see you all next week.  Check out the Group on Ravelry.  We are trying to decide a name for our Ravelympics Team.  Make sure you take the time to suggest a good name, and VOTE!  when we get the poll up.


Where in the World is f1bercat?

I knitted while biking 5 miles and walked another .23 miles (why is the walking so hard?  because I'm tired from the biking?  I need to work harder, I think).  This gives me a total of 211.76 mi.  and, while I am still on the side of the road,


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I can see Portland from my bike!

Look how far I have traveled.

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I should be at my daughter's university tomorrow.

Can't wait to see her.  I am so proud of her, but I really miss her.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one cupcake at a time

Happy Birthday, Cleothyla and Tassereine!

Two Feet

Salmon and Orange Chinese Poppies

Hello!

After my big FO Friday, I was all set to do a Cast On Monday.  But it was Memorial Day in the USA, so I went to the movies with my husband and youngest son, L, instead.  We saw Men in Black III, and enjoyed it quite a bit.  Not as good at MIB I but definitely better than MIB II.

WIP's

I have cast on and am already about 2/3 finished with a hat for the Sharing Our Gifts  Group on Ravelry.  We are making chemo hats this month.  I bought some super soft yarn at The Knittery, in a rather dark brown, darker than I like to knit, but I know they need hats for men, as well as women, so I thought I would make a guy's hat.

The yarn is Plymouth Yarn's Dream Baby DK and I am using size 3.5mm (US 4) needles with a 16" cable.

This color is close to the true color.  The photos of the hat in progress, are a bit washed out, and make it look more gray than brown.

I have finished the brim and the first part of the pattern.  I am now on the upper chart.  This hat, Brennius Hat by Orna Ferenz, is a really nice guy hat, with a bit of a slouch to it.

The second new project is a doll for my husband's god daughter, M.  I have already made her the Coco the Cat doll,

but, I was looking through the wonderful blog, Flutterby Patch, and the delightful doll and animal patterns for sale there, and at her Etsy store Dollytime, when I saw a doll that looked just like M!  I had to get the pattern.  The doll I am making is called, Belinda Jane,  has curly copper colored hair.  My niece, M, is a definite ginger, and her hair is curly, too.

The doll patterns for sale on this site have such wonderful expressions.  I hope I can come close to making my doll look like them.

Of course, I have changed the pattern a bit.  It calls for a lot of knitting flat and then sewing up.  So I decided to knit what I could in the round and save my self some sewing.  This seemed to work ok for the head and the body.  But when I got to the feet and legs I ran into some interesting ... well,

For the first foot/leg combination, the pattern starts with the shoe, adds the sock then the leg.  The shoe is knitted flat, the sock and leg continue on up, then the whole thing is sewn together and stuffed.

back of shoe sewn closed

  I wasn't sure how the shoe was going to come together, so I knitted it flat, but when I got to the sock, I connected the sides, and proceeded in the round with 4 double pointed needles for the sock and leg.  The leg looked ok, but the shoe was HUGE.

Having figured out how the shoe comes together, for the second shoe/sock/leg, I decided to knit the entire thing in the round, stuffing as I go.  I started with Judy's Magic Cast On, as though I were making a toe-up sock, and knit up the shoe.  I didn't really think about the tension, other than trying to keep everything tight, so that when I stuff it, you won't be able to see the stuffing.  But, I am a rather loose knitter, and this is especially true for my purling.  So, when knitting in the round, I am able to keep my tension much tighter.  This meant that the second shoe is quite a bit smaller than the first, though the socks/legs are about the same.

I like the size of the smaller shoe much better than the big one, even though there is a bit of a ridge where I did a 3-needle bind off.  I will have to frog the first shoe/sock/leg and reknit it.

If I don't, this poor dolly will have a bit of a limp.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I managed to knit 5.35 miles today.  I told myself to just knit for 25 minutes, and don't worry about the distance, but I got caught up in the knitting (I am working on my Spa Wash Cloths, from the Liz Marino Gift Knits Club design) and went a bit over.  Then, I got on a treadmill, and walked for another 1/4 mile.  I don't really like walking on the treadmill because I can't knit while I do it, but I need to get in better walking shape for the summer.

The 5.35 miles puts me at a total of 206.53 miles knitted.  I am still outside Portland.


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and not very close to any Yarn Shops.  I have about 12 more miles until I reach my daughter, S, at Portland State University.  I should be there by Friday.  I can't wait to see her, if only virtually.

Good night everyone.  Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet two mismatched feet at a time

FO Friday

Purple Iris 2012.05.25

FO

I have a few Finished Objects to share with you this week.

FO 1
I was working on an afghan square using Broomstick Lace for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup Group  (HPKCHC) on Ravelry.  This was for the "Flying" class.  One choice of prompts for May was to crochet something using broomstick lace as a way to get to know your  broomstick.  I had heard of broomstick lace, but never tried it.  The group requires squares of at least 8 inches, so, I made four 6 in squares, and then joined them into one 12 in square that can be incorporated into one of the afghans I am already making.  I decided to use red, white, and blue yarn, and make it for my son, J's, University of Arizona Afghan.  The broomstick part was relatively easy, but I had a bit of trouble keeping the framing stitches, well, square.  Hopefully, it will block into a square.

FO 2
I finished the fish hat that will be a wedding gift for my nephew, A, in June.  I had already finished the gift for his bride to be, the pair of Better Than French Vanilla Socks that I made with the Liz Marino Gift Club, earlier this year.

I had originally thought to make them matching socks, and I am making another pair of socks with this pattern, but not for my nephew.  I decided that I would make him something completely different.

A hat that looks like a dead fish.

It seems a perfect wedding gift for a 30 something year old man.

FO 3
I also finished the MOCK (mystery sock) that I was knitting with the SKA (sock knitters anonymous) and SolidSocks Groups.

The challenge for the Potions Class in HPKCHC was a riddle:

What you see before you is this;
When one does not know what it is, then it is something;
but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing.

The answer to this riddle is "a riddle."  But, I thought that "Mystery" would also be a possible answer, so I have submitted my mystery socks to the group, hoping that I will get credit for them.  As far as I can tell, you only need to do one class every month, but in order to be "sorted" into a house, you need to accrue points, and you get points by completing assignments.  So, if there is a way to get points for something I am making already, I plan to submit and see how it goes.

. 
FO 4

My final finished object for this week is my laundry.

I folded all of the clean clothes on the love seat!  Only unmatched socks are left:

No Where in the World is f1bercat, today.  I spend the whole morning trying to organize our trip to California for my nephew's wedding.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet 4 FO's at a time.

2012.05.25 Foxglove

Larger Pile of Cat Barf? Or A Shawl?

2012.05.24 Red Chinese Poppy

WIP

I am on the 9th repeat of 13 repeats of the main pattern of the Echo Flower Shawl  by Jenny Johnson Johnen I am making for my mom.  You might remember my earlier post about this shawl.

 It was a KAL for the Beginning Lace Knitters Group on Ravelry.  I did not start mine in time to knit it with the group because I was finishing my Princess Lace Wrap,

and I did NOT want to be knitting two lace projects at the same time.  It was bad enough that I was knitting that wrap and a pair of socks with a lace pattern, the Hearts Abound Socks for my sister, K.

 I kept confusing parts of the two patterns and knitting wrap stitches on the socks, and sock stitches on the wrap.  Much better to stick to one lace project at a time.  Of course, the Mock for SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) this month , Chiendent, designed  by the talented Rose Hiver, has a lace pattern, but it is so easy to remember, I am not confusing it with the shawl.  Or, at least I hope not.

When I hit eight repeats, I got really excited, and thought, "Wow!  I am half way finished."  But then I thought about the fact that I am adding 2 new sections with every new repeat, so, um, I'm too tired to do the math, but I am not half way.  This pattern is not hard, hence the Beginning Lace Knitters KAL, but I have to pay attention while I am working on it.  I can not watch TV, that's for sure.  I usually listen to a podcast, but not CraftLit because I have to pay attention to that one.  As it is, I sometimes have to replay parts of what ever I am listening to because I tend to block it out while I am knitting on this shawl.  Lately I have been trying to finish 2 rows every night.  Sometimes I manage more, sometimes, nothing at all.

But it is starting to have the shape of a shawl.  And I still love the yarn, Cascade Alpaca Lace in Cream.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I have knit 201.18 miles!  Wooot!  Broke the 200 mile barrier today.  I had to take my car in for the 50,000 mile service check, and I almost used that as an excuse not to ride/knit. Instead, I rode and knitted, then went straight to the Dealer, yes, sweaty and wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.  I refused to care.  It took about 1 hour to change the oil, etc, regular maintenance, and I knitted in the waiting room.  Then I stopped at the Knittery on the way home and picked up some yarn for a chemo hat that I want to make for the Sharing Our Gifts Group.  I am so glad I stuck to my exercise schedule.  I am still sitting on the side of the road.


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This is starting to remind me a bit of when I was stuck on the side of the road near Joint Base Lewis-McCord.  This highway is forever, and there are no yarn shops until I get to Portland.  I scouted ahead a bit and look at the map of Portland with the search for Yarn shops:


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Pretty amazing.

Ok, I hope to post FO (finished objects) tomorrow, so I need to get off my blog and get back to knitting.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one almostish scarf at a time

Orange Chinese Poppy

Confessions

Black Bart Iris 2012.05.23

Tonight the Eastside Stitchers met as usual at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, WA.  I must confess that I was so engrossed in the chat that I did not take photos.  I thought of it briefly when I first sat down, but then I just forgot.

Chockelet brought the yarn she had bought on the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour for show and tell.  And what a show it was.  Such beautiful yarn... (no photos though).  We had a really great time discussing the various stores  on the tour and what we liked about each one.  Cleothyla was able to hit about 5 stores, but had done the entire tour last year, so we had a lively discussion.

Chockelet and Allifer (who came really late from work) both brought WIPs using  the most gorgeous lace yarns that they had bought at Churchmouse Yarn & Teas on Bainbridge Island during the Tour.  The rest of us spent quite some time just fondling their yarn.  OOOOOOO soft.  Again, no photos, because I confess that I am an idiot.

MsWiz was making the cutest dog sweater, with a skull and cross bones on it.

GwenS is almost finished with her Color Affection shawl in the beautiful pink, green and brown Malabrigo.

Jan was there, but had forgotten a page of her instructions.  So, she mostly joined in the conversation.

Cleothyla was knitting some beautiful lace.  I think it was the beginning of a shawl.

Tara has made huge progress on her cowl.

I mostly worked on sewing in ends on the many squares I have hooked for the 2012BAMCAL group on Ravelry. 

Of course, I could say we were all knitting pigs, and you wouldn't know if I were telling the truth or not because I have NO PHOTOS.

Where in the World is f1bercat?

I stitched a total of 4.1 miles today, which puts my total miles at 196.93 miles.  I should hit 200 miles tomorrow.  I remember how excited I was when I hit 100 miles.  Even with my long absence from my flu, I am making good progress.


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Still stuck on the side of the road, but Oregon is beautiful, so I'm having fun.  Even though it rained today.

Not much change from yesterday, but every 4 miles helps.


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Confessions continued.

So here is the real confession for this blog post.  During the LYS crawl, I did laundry every day, sometimes 2 loads, but I did not fold any of it.

I just piled the clean laundry on the loveseat in the TV room, and started another load.  This morning I told myself that I had to get a start on the folding.  So I turned on the TV to the last recorded show of Avatar, The Legend of Korra, and started folding.

When the show ended, I stopped folding because I wanted to knit.

Four folded piles.  But the love seat still looked like this:

EEK!  Then my youngest son, L, told me that he had a load in the washer, and asked if I could switch it to the dryer for him.

The love seat is piled even higher now.

I am confessing that I put knitting before folding laundry.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one non folded piece of clean laundry at a time.

Bike Ride Gets me a bit Closer to Portland

WIP's

I am knitting away. I am making pretty good progress on all of my WIP's, and am trying to decide a couple more to start.  I got 2 super nice hat patterns and the yarn on the Puget Sound LYS Tour, AND my new Liz Marino Gift Club project came in the mail, and that is a hat, too!  I think I will cast on the Liz hat first.  I am not sure who it will be for, though.  I am making a pile of my gifts for Christmas, and for some of them, I will decide later who they are for. 

This hat is a Tam, and I have never made one before, but I love the pattern in the picture, so I am ready to go for it! 

This month, the Sharing Our Gifts Group on Ravelry is also making hats.  They want the yarn to be super soft as the hats are for Chemo Patients, and that is supposedly the only criteria, but there is a Chemo Hat Group on Ravelry, and I was checking out their projects, and all of their hats are cotton blends.  So, I might HAVE TO BUY YARN.  LOL!  can you believe it?  I should have checked what the project was before I did the yarn crawl.  The Knittery, in Renton had a nice supply of cotton yarns, so I might stop back there and pick up a skein or two.

I have finished all of the knitting on the Fish Hat I am making for my nephew, A, for his wedding.  I hope to block it tonight and get a photo up here tomorrow.


Where in the World is f1bercat?


I knitted 4.12 miles today, and that put me at 192.92 miles, and stuck on the side of the road, on the Columbia River Highway, in Oregon.


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I am getting closer to Portland, and a visit with my daughter, S.


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 But I better hurry!  Her school year will be ending soon.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one super soft hat at a time

Eastside Knitters Guild Attacked by Knitted Monsters

Rebecca Danger 2012.05.21

Eastside Knitters Guild

Rebecca Danger of the DangerCrafts shop on Etsy and the wonderful Big Book of Knitted Monsters visited The Eastside Knitters Guild tonight at Crossroads Mall.  She brought lots of fun samples of her monster patterns, books, and kits.

Rebecca started out designing, sewing and selling artisan purses and bags, and only switched to knitting patterns relatively recently.  The most amazing thing about her  is how self taught she is.  She is just so creative and ready to take changes and try things.  If she wants a pattern to do something and doesn't now how, she just makes it up.  I love how whimsical and endearing her "monsters" are.





In addition to finding the monster, dinosaur, and other patterns in her books, you can buy patterns individually at her Etsy Store.



WIP's  

I have finished the 3rd clue on the Mock (mystery sock) for Sock Knitters Anonymous and my "summer" colored sock for SolidSocks for May.  This clue started with the heel turn and included the gussets.



I just love this color.  I am using Cascade Heritage Sock in Turquoise.

The heels were pretty standard, but the gusset has a twisted rib, continuing the twisted rib pattern that made up the legs.  I really love the look.  The 4th and last clue will be released tomorrow morning.  I can't wait.

I also finished the third Spa Washcloth from my Liz Marino Gift Knits Club.  These are so much fun to knit and such a great gift idea.  I have decided to make them for my 3 sisters and 4 sisters in law for Christmas gifts.

Right after I bound off, I cast on another spa washcloth with some of the organic yarn I bought on the 2012 Puget Sound Yarn Tour.  3 down, 18 to go.










Where in the World is f1bercat?

When I left off my bike tour, I was at 183.63 miles and on the side of the road in Oregon.  I managed to knit another 5.1 miles and made it to Knit Divas!  188.73 miles knitted so far.


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To tell the truth, I am not sure this LYS is still in business.  They have a website, and a Ravelry Group, but it all looks a bit inactive.  The economy is so tough.  I am glad I participated in the 2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour.  It is so important to support our small businesses, especially our local ones.  I hope that Knit Divas is still alive.  It is such a great name for a shop.

Here is my progress so far:


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And here is where I am on the big map:


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I still have a way to go.

Stay safe and well.

Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet one spa washcloth at a time

one of Rebecca Danger's Monsters