Wooly does it again!

Wooly Yarnmeister, Irish Yarn Snob Extraordinaire, my hubby!
Wooly: "Yo! My pattern and yarn are here! Will you make it for me? PLEEESE...."
Pattern: Egan, Yarn: Irish Ewe Aran in Nep
Wooly: "It's real Irish yarn from county Kerry! It even smells like a sheep... can you smell it?! here, smell it!..."
Me: "Okay..., but I want FULL participation from you... you can't just buy the pattern and yarn and expect a sweater to appear... FULL participation!

Wooly winding his wool... supervised by Kamati the Gemsbok...
Kamati moves in for a close look... yarn ball is getting bigger.
Wooly: "Looks like a cake! Can I eat it?!"

Kamati: "What a dumb thing to say!"

Me : no comment

Repeat 5 more times for a total of 6 cakes.

This is nothing new! I have already made Wooly 8 sweaters and each time he has bought the wool and pattern all by himself. At least he wears them constantly during fall and winter. You should see him fold, unfold, smell, admire, pet, and repeat. He really loves them, so I'm willing to make them. I'm still trying to get him to knit, but he keeps saying, "as soon as you learn to play the bagpipes!" which will never happen!

I'm not starting until Labor Day (this coming) weekend. In the meantime, I'm still working on Alpine and Unst's edging.

Wonder how many knitter's partners do this? I'm probably the only 'lucky' one! :)

Cut + Unst Border #2

Cut and repeat.

Cutting the waste cast on rows and picking up 185 stitches wasn't as hard as I thought.

I went all the way to Africa, and the only thing I bought for myself was this Gemsbok!

He's great for modeling, listening to me ramble, and staring at me.



Then there were TWO!

I completed the second border (right side) and enjoyed watching those motifs appear again.

Here's a close up of my favorites... I like diamond shapes and think my tension might be getting better.
After finishing Border #1, I rewarded myself by buying the Bee Stole!
I have 2 skeins of the dark red Fino that I've been saving for something special. But I also like the Zephyr in chanel (fushia). I like the vertical lines of the stole. Not starting yet!

Now I'm off to work on Alpine for a while before starting the Unst's edging. Remember? Edging is like sleeves... not fun, easy to put off, but if you don't complete it, you can't wear it! :) and I can't start anything else. Now maybe I'll reward myself for finishing Border#2... there's another pattern I want!

Happy Knitting!

Unst Border #1

Yes, I'm back to reality, knitting away!

I present my Unst Border #1 (side view)



Here's a close up of the first half...

Here's the second half...
Now I have to CUT the cast on waste stitches and pick up 185 stitches...
so I can knit the 2nd border... not that I didn't enjoy making the first border... but, CUT??!
The only cutting I do is for steeks - and that was scary the first time! Bad things can happen!
Yes, I'm doing my version of avoidance... I think I need to... shop! ;)

Bye Gail B!

My knitting and quilting mentor Gail B retired, sold her house and moved to Pittsburg, PA.
We worked together for the last 10 years. She started the 'Knitting at Noon' gang every Friday, which was a joy. She gave me the best gift that keeps on giving - knitting and quilting!
I know you will miss Little Knits - but at least you can still shop there online. :)
Now you need to start blogging, so everyone can see what you're knitting!

Here's my 'proof of life' photo:
Me at my desk holding Alpine. I decided I need to work on Alpine during lunch, or she will never get done by Christmas.
Gail - you can image the stealth it took to get this photo taken without comments/questions from the peanut gallery! Thanks to Mike T for taking this photo, nobody knew it happened! ;)
Yes, I've got my website on my screen! See Gail! It's really me! Now start blogging!


Okay, enough fun! I'm off to start cutting... wait, what about the shopping?! :)

Happy Knitting everyone! Knit on!

Back From Africa

Namibia, Africa 7/22 to 7/31
I love this shadow photo of Wooly and I.

We stayed at Eden Wildlife Safari.
90 miles east of Grootfontaine.
Here's the lodge and the fire pit - our favorite place.
From the fire pit you can see the waterhole, where the animals come to drink and stare at you. You could set your watch by who came when.

This is our guide Voter (say it with your best German accent!) and his dog Mauser. Mauser had the biggest personality and had a grunt and sound for each action and emotion. I miss him already. He followed us everywhere and was constant entertainment.

Kudu - male has the horns. Also known as The Gray Ghost. They're very majestic. Wooly says he's coming back as a Kudu.
Gemsbok or Oryx. I'm coming back as one of these. Fierce, yet beautiful, with chopstick like horns. Males have thicker short horns, females have thin long horn.
Giraffes - whole family at dusk. They're so tender looking and inquisitive. They just stood there and stared at us until they realized the jeep wasn't going to stop!
Springbok - aren't they pretty! They can run and leap really fast too. Only males have horns.
Waterbok dueling - they're real wooly and look like the belong in north America. I love the white ring on their rear. The females don't have horns. We heard them dueling at night too, along with the jackals howling.
Blue Wildebeest - they're the clowns always acting crazy and scaring everyone else away. Warthogs (Pumba) in the rear.
Wooly's niece Ciss. Yes, she knit that scarf while we were there. Actually, she knit 3 scarves while there, which was more than I did! I couldn't focus! I was distracted by the animals!
Dusk at Eden.
What an adventure! It seems like a dream. I am glad to be back home, but miss the animals staring at me. Where's Mauser?! ; )

Loud and Proud

Alpine update:
After reading my last post, petting Leaf and Trellis, reading my last post again. I decided that SIL Poohla needs to have Alpine in Zephyr. I cut off the old and gave it one more try. Hooray! It's working now!

I made it through the 6th repeat on Unst (from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting book).
No photos until I get through the border.


We went to the Skagit Valley Highland Games.


Wooly played in Professional Class back in the day.

Just a sneak peek...
The Macalester College Pipe Band from St Paul. MN was there.
So were the Portland Metro Pipe band, from Oregon. I like that they each had their own family kilt on.

Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Burnaby, BC was the only class 1 band there.
Here's the SFU Pipe Major giving his motivational speech.
Look how focused the drummers are!
The announcer made a comment about their blue socks...Wooly laughed...I said, "what's wrong with their socks? It's my favorite color!" :)

The goal is to have it sound like one pipe and one drum playing. They really did a great job. Wooly said they're the best we'll hear outside of Scotland. They're heading off to Scotland for the World's next month. We wish them well! and wish we could go too! Play Loud and Proud! m:)

Smitten

Unst update:

I'm smitten with this project now! Just completed 5 repeats and have 5 to go! When I get up extra early without the alarm to sneak down and work a few rows before I start my day, I know I'm really loving it! I even managed to get Yuki to model with it. Everyone else was rolling their eyes and I wasn't even asking them to help hold or wear anything. :)


Ever feel cursed?

I've been wanting to make the Alpine Knit Scarf from VLT page 36 for my SIL Poohla for Christmas. She likes lavendar and I had Zephyr all ready to go. Now, I love Zephyr - merino and silk, soft, little bit of shine, makes beautiful fabric - and used it for many shawls - including Leaf and Trellis. For some reason this one feels different and is not cooperating. I've started and restarted at least 3 times with no success. I've decided to use Cashwool instead. Hopefully the curse will be broken. :)

Double Lily

I don't know what it's real name is, but it finally bloomed! See how it's a lily in a lily? Mom gave me these and they're doing better at my house than hers. I love how vibrant and happy they look.

Thanks to everyone for believing Unst would get better! It's funny how everyone is more confident in my ability than I am! ;) At least I'm determined! And using a lifeline, counting, focused and smitten! :)

Have a good week! m :)

Lifeline... you saved me more than once!

Unst update:

This has been quite the journey.

1. Tried to cast on 'my way' and it didn't work. Followed instructions... and it worked! duhh!

2. What's that smell? The yarn. Ok, I'll put up with it now that the nose knows!

3. Black dots on chart? Re-read page 23. I'm reading it right... maybe not... no, I really am... Thanks to Lorri for clarifying.

4. Dropped 2 stitches, but caught them in time. Made it to row 20 when I realized one got away. Aaauugghhh! Took a 'break' to surf the web and saw Fleegle's post about lifelines are your friend - use them! Wishing I had a lifeline... while ripping out... and starting over. :(

5. Got my lifeline, focus now... count! Did you say something? It's not lining up! Rip back 5 rows to lifeline. :(

6. Shhh... everything's going too well. Breathe. Made it through one repeat! Hooray!

So here I am on row 13 of the 2nd repeat. See my friend the pink lifeline?
Never ever had this much drama!!

My hydrangea. Closest thing to a firework in my yard. We'll be on 'fire watch' like usual.

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends! Happy Independence Day to my American friends!

Let's make it safe and sane... USE A LIFELINE! m:)