Saturday, August 29, 2009

Obsessed

vineyokecardi

I'll admit it- I'm obsessed with this sweater. Ysolda rocks. I need to wear this at Rhinebeck.

Purchase pattern here. Come to the shop to find yarn for it. We have about ten things that would work.

I'm working on Will's sweater today. It needs to go in the mail on Thursday. I got this one. Will post photos tonight. I'm going to knit an entire sleeve today. It sounds lovely to me in this gloomy weather.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Goals for Fall

But first, here is Debby's pretty window:

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If you've never been to Rhinebeck (New York Sheep and Wool Festival), you might want to go here to see what it consists of. I was in heaven. Now I'm planning what to wear there this year. I think I can finish the Must Have Cardi, possibly the featherweight cardi, and maybe even the cardi I've been making with the yarn I got a Rhinebeck last year.

But here's my dilemma- the twist collective just came out with a great issue and my buddy, Ysolda, has a really cool cardi in there that can't take too long to do...and then Classic Elite just came out with a ton of new books (seriously, their graphic design team is GOOD), and what about all the needlepoint I wanted to have done for Christmas? My pet ornaments for my tree?

This is why Fall is so wonderful for me. I am a project person- I always need to have like three going, but then I get stressed and I think "wait, why am I stressing over my hobby?"

SO- Here are my goals for the rest of this year, and I'm posting it here so that you all hold me accountable.

1. Will's sweater done by September 3rd so it has time to get to Missouri in time for his 18th bday. (I tried it on him in Italy and it's looking great. I have one sleeve + the yoke to do)

2. Must have cardi finished mid-sept. I picked these buttons out for it yesterday and I love it!

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3. Clapotis for Sharman by mid-sept.

4. Featherweight Cardi- I'll start this soon and see how long it's going to take. If I dont get it done by October, no biggie.

5. Needlepoint- I need to settle down and work on this a few hours a week. Speaking of needlepoint, here is Mimi's progress on the Zecca purse. We have this in the shop.

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6. Sewing class- I'd love to find an intermediate class that can make me a GOOD seamstress. Anyone want to take it with me?

7. Spinning- I have a fleece from MD sheep and wool and I need to wash it and get it ready for spinning.

8. Christmas presents- I need some time to brainstorm these, but I think only one sweater for my mom this year. Robert, Dena, Will, and my dad will have to settle for another knitted accessory. Remember the awesome Redskins hats?!

Here is a BSJ that Susan made and some CUTE buttons from the shop- we have some great buttons now.

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Here's to September- it's just around the corner!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Italy photos!

This sums up my Italy trip:

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We laughed our heads off, I knitted, we stayed at a Villa and had this incredible view that we never really believed, and I knitted.

I took a TON of yarn, as I previously told you, and the trip actually ended up being a tad touristy (day trips and then coming back to the Villa to jump in the pool) so it wasn't exactly a sleep late, knit by the pool kind of trip, but long plane rides and occasional soccer games in Italian proved for some good craft hours.

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This was after two or three days of working on the back of the Must Have Cardi. I did the entire back and that was my goal! Woo hoo!

This pic gives you more detail of the cables. I LOVE maps so I thought this was a cool pic.

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I cable without a needle so it goes VERY fast. This is Mission Falls 1824- such an incredible yarn!

My Tuscan yarn crawl consisted of this: a woman who owns her own shop made of hand woven garments

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and Casa de la Lana in Siena- the only shop I found. The owners 1. spoke no english (heck yeah Italian 101 in college! I loved speaking it and the rest of my crew nicknamed me Rosetta after Rosetta Stone- haha), 2. did not know their shop was listed in Nicky Epstein's knitting in Tuscany, and 3. thought I was Nicky Epstein. I WISH I had her talent. I did clarify that I am not Nicky Epstein.

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Susan and I are both at the shop tomorrow (Sunday the 23rd) so come see us and see all the new great stuff the shop has! New Classic Elite books really make you realize that Fall is on its way!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

knitting in Italia

I'm back home after a week in Tuscany. I took about thirty skeins of yarn with me and knitted five, but those five skeins of Mission Falls became the back of the Must Have Cardi!

I did a swatch for the Featherweight, but that's about it. I always do this! I imagine a vacation of knitting and then I knit on the plane and that's about it. I will load pics tonight!

PS The Tuscan yarn crawl was not a huge success. Found one store and loaded up on italian wool and alpaca, but no buttons or fabric shops!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Knitalongs

Kate, Susan, Jillian, and I are starting this:

featherweight

It's Hannah Fettig's Featherweight Cardigan. We have lots of Malabrigo lace weight and it takes 2 or 3 of them. Therefore, this is a very affordable project (under $50). This is such a popular pattern and I can see why. Hannah also published the Whisper Cardigan in Interweave.

Susan and I are also making this out of Mission Falls.

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It's the Must Have Cardigan published by Patons. We've been talking about making this for years. It's such a classic look. Hopefully I'll be done before Rhinebeck.

So that's a slight update. I will post again before Friday because I fly to Italy! I'm picturing lots of knitting by the pool and reading books that I haven't had time to read in a long while. The great thing is the Nicky Epstein wrote Knitting in Tuscany so that's something I def need to pick up before I get on the plane!

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