Gray day here in Oklahoma.  Not much going on.  I am still working on my red socks.  I am sorely tempted to start something else, but I have too many projects started to start another.  I need to finish some before I start anymore.

Back in Oklahoma after nearly a month in Texas.  I am trying to get back into some kind of routine.  So far, I'm not doing too well.  I am missing all the family and folks down in Texas. 

On the knitting front, I finished a pair of socks.  I will try to post a photo later.  The photos I have are not very good as the light was bad.  The sun is out today, so I will try for a better shot.

I am also working on another pair of socks that I started while in Texas.  These are red cable socks.  I was aiming for Christmas, but now have set the goal to Valentine's Day.  I need red socks for Valentines, don't I?

I watched the first episode of season three of Downton Abbey on Sunday.  I am enjoying it as much as the other seasons.  Maggie Smith and Shirley Maclaine are a hoot.  They get the best lines.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Happy New Year!

It's been quite a while since I posted to the blog.  That's me being lazy.  However, I am going to try to better this year.  I'm going to try to write more about knitting and life in general.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year.  May you have many blessings in your life.

Beaded!

I just finished a new shawl.  This one is beaded!  This was my first attempt at adding beads to my knitting.  I have to say I am really happy with the result.  I have to give thanks to Denise Bell at Lost City Knits for teaching me an easy way to add beads.  You can see how Denise does it on her web site lostcityknits.com.  Click on her videos to see how Denise beads.  You also might want to check out Denise's yarns and patterns.  They are so beautiful.

The pattern is Alexandra by Dee O'Keefe.  It's a well written pattern with great charts.  It has written instructions as well.  This shawl is knit out of Malabrigo Sock in the Persia colorway.  This colorway is teal and gray.  The photos are fairly true to the colors.  It took 2 skeins with some left over.  I used US size 5 (3.75mm) needles.  The finished size is 60 inches wide by 36 inches deep.  The beads are size 6 in an iridescent gun metal color. 

Sorry all the photos were taken while the shawl was being blocked, but I did not have good light after I took it off the blocking wires.

August already!  Where does the time go?  I came back to Oklahoma in mid-March, so I missed winter here.  Not that there was much winter.  It was pretty mild by Oklahoma standards according to most people I have talked to.  I was back in Houston in June for doctor and dentist appointments.  The end of June we headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama for two weeks.  This was our annual trip to visit with family.  We have been going to Gulf Shores since 2001.  This year we had 14 family members, so it was lots of fun. 

On the knitting front, I have a few projects going, but not too many.  I have tried a few new things, but frogged most of them.  Either the yarn wasn't right, or I just did not like the pattern.  I will try to show some things I am working on soon.

Unstuck

I finally got more yarn for the shawl I was stuck on.  I finished the shawl on Monday and blocked it yesterday.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  This is the Wast Side shawl by Gudrun Johnston.  It was knit with Cascade Heritage sock yarn on US size 6 (4mm) needles.

Finally Finished

I started these socks sometime last summer, but have only worked on them off and on since then.  I have been working on other projects so these socks only came out when I was too tired to do more complicated work.  That said, I love these socks.  The yarn is Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn in the Symphony colorway.  My photos do not do justice to this yarn.  It is not as blue as in the photos, but a lovely mixture of blue, black, turquoise, green and burgundy.  These socks were knit on US size 2 (2.75mm) bamboo needles.  I am going to wash these socks separately at first, because I'm sure the color will run.  The yarn turned my bamboo needles blue while I was knitting them.

Too Many Projects

I have been working on several knitting projects lately.  I have probably spread myself too thin, but it is hard to resist some patterns.  Currently I am working on a plain pair of socks, an afghan, a triangular shawl, a round shawl and a scarf.  I will try to post some photos soon. 

Good Book

I just finished reading The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma.  What a wonderful book!  My daughter read it and recommended it to me.  Definitely worth reading.  It's a nonfiction book about a nine year old girl and her father.  They make the promise to read together for 100 days.  The Streak, as they call it, turns into 9 years.  

Muckle Mitts

A finished project!  I started these on Tuesday and finished today.  Three day project, just what I like.  These mitts are from a free pattern by Mary Jane Mucklestone.  They are made from baby alpaca, knit on US size 3 (3.25mm) and US size 4 (3.5mm) needles.  The colors are not quite true here.  What appears to be blue in the photos is actually turquoise.  I knit the pattern with no alterations, and the mitts fit both Sarah and I, although they were made for Sarah.

Stuck!

I have been knitting the Wast Side shawl by Gudrun Johnston in a bright fuchsia Heritage solid sock yarn.  I thought I had enough yarn for the project, but alas, I did not.  So...I am waiting on another skein of the yarn to come.  I could technically bind the shawl off as is since it is knit from the outside in, but I really don't want to do that.  Bah!

Icarus Shawl update

I was looking back over some of my old posts and saw that I had mentioned 'still working on the Icarus'.  However, I never posted about finishing it.  I did finally finish the Icarus shawl back in April.  It only took me 4 years to do it.  I kept getting bored/frustrated with the shawl and it went into timeout about 5 times.  I do have to say that I am happy with the finished product.  It's a beautiful pattern.

This pattern is by Miriam Felton.  The yarn is Jaggerspun Zephyr in the Admiral colorway.  It was knit on US size 4 needles. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone.  I am still in Spring until later this week then it will be back to Oklahoma.  I had a very nice Christmas with my family.  It was nice to have everyone here at one time even if it was a little chaotic at times.  New Year's Eve was very quiet.  I watched four episodes of Downton Abbey with Sarah and Sean.  I got the Downton Abbey DVD for Christmas, and this was the first opportunity I've had to watch it.  We will watch the last two episodes tonight.  If you have not seen Downton Abbey and like English historical dramas, try to see it.  


On the knitting front, I have not been doing anything spectacular.  I have been working on a pair of socks for several months.  I have started making garter stitch squares for an afghan.  There are a couple of other projects that are in time out right now.  I will pick them up later.


I hope everyone has a prosperous and happy new year.  Take care.

Texas

I'm in Texas for Thanksgiving.  I will stay through the Christmas holidays since I have some doctor and dental appointments here in December.  Life is relatively quiet.  I have been doing a little knitting, but nothing worth blogging about as of yet.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Still Here

I can't believe I have not blogged since March. I apologize. Not that I have much to blog about. Life has been relatively quiet. We did take our annual trip down to Gulf Shores for Fourth of July. It was a lot of fun. I have been reading quite a bit and knitting a little. It's been very hot this summer in Oklahoma, and it's hard to get excited about knitting when it is so hot. We just had our first cool front come through, so maybe I will be more motivated to knit now. I have plenty of ideas, I just need to work on them.

Gray Days

It has been gray and cold here for the past several days.  No sun and windy, cold air.  Not my favorite, of course when it is 110 this summer, I will probably complain about that, too.

To off set the gloom here, I give you my finished Easter socks.  They are bright and cheerful, almost glaringly so.  They are knit out of Indulgence sock yarn on US size 2 (2.75mm) needles.  It is my usual plain pattern with the exception that I knit them with after-thought heels instead of my usual flap heel.

I tried the after-thought heel for two reasons.  1.-I wanted to try something new.  2.-I did not want to interrupt the stripe pattern on the front of these socks.

The socks came out a little bit long, since I wasn't quite sure how long to make the foot part and I wasn't sure how much space the heel would give me.  If I do this type of heel again, I will know better how long to make the foot.  The heel itself is a bit fiddly to do, but it does give a nice finished look.  The other change I would make is to knit this yarn on an smaller needle.  The fabric of these socks is a little bit loose.

Over all they are OK and I learned something new.

I leave you with a new photo of Oscar.  He got a new bed since we moved, and as you can see, he just hates it.  8-)

Gray Days

It has been gray and cold here for the past several days.  No sun and windy, cold air.  Not my favorite, of course when it is 110 this summer, I will probably complain about that, too.

To off set the gloom here, I give you my finished Easter socks.  They are bright and cheerful, almost glaringly so.  They are knit out of Indulgence sock yarn on US size 2 (2.75mm) needles.  It is my usual plain pattern with the exception that I knit them with after-thought heels instead of my usual flap heel.

I tried the after-thought heel for two reasons.  1.-I wanted to try something new.  2.-I did not want to interrupt the stripe pattern on the front of these socks.

The socks came out a little bit long, since I wasn't quite sure how long to make the foot part and I wasn't sure how much space the heel would give me.  If I do this type of heel again, I will know better how long to make the foot.  The heel itself is a bit fiddly to do, but it does give a nice finished look.  The other change I would make is to knit this yarn on an smaller needle.  The fabric of these socks is a little bit loose.

Over all they are OK and I learned something new.

I leave you with a new photo of Oscar.  He got a new bed since we moved, and as you can see, he just hates it.

New Yarn Shop

Today I went to a yarn shop here in Oklahoma City.  I had called yesterday to see if they had any sit and knit groups.  Turns out they do...Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So I decided to try it.  It's a longer drive than where I go in Spring, but it's not a bad drive.  Nowhere in OKC is really a bad drive compared to Houston.  I got to the yarn store about 10:30; there was no one there except the two people who run the store.  They were very nice and friendly, showed me around the store, told me the food and drink options and rules.  They have two nice sofas and several padded chairs plus several large tables to work at if needed.  So I sat down and knitted and knitted.  Around 11:30 I decided that if no one showed up by 12:00 I would leave.  About 11:45 someone came in and sat down. One of the store personel introduced me and explained that I had just moved to the area.  After that, lots of others came to sit and knit.  I met Jane, Judy, Amy, Kathy, Norma and Karen.  I'm hoping I can keep them all straight for the next time I go.  They were all very nice and welcoming.  And like the Friday group at Twisted Yarns, almost all of them have at least one cat, but most of them have multiple cats/pets.  It sounded very familiar.  I left around 1:00, because I did not want to leave Oscar in his crate too long.  I am going to try to go back next Thursday, but I will go later in the day.  I did get quite a bit done on my second Easter sock.  It's almost finished.  More later.

Now in Oklahoma

Today is my first day living in Oklahoma.  We drove up yesterday from Texas.  It took us about 8 hours, but we stopped for food and doggie breaks.  Oscar, my greyhound, traveled in the van in his crate.  He did really well considering he had never traveled that far before.  Oscar has been getting used to the new house.  He has hit his head twice now on the sliding glass door.  Now he waits for someone to tell him it's OK to go through.  I guess I need to get some decals to place on the glass at Oscar eye level.

On the drive up yesterday I really enjoyed seeing spring making its appearance.  The bluebonnets are starting to bloom on the Texas highways.  I love seeing the bluebonnets.  Most of the oak trees have a pale green halo right now as the new leaves are just starting to come out.  As we got closer to and in Oklahoma there were more and more redbud trees in bloom.  I still don't know why they are called redbud trees, because the blooms are not really red, but more pinkish purple.  Anyway, they are beautiful.  I wish I had one in my yard here.  We may need to do some additional landscaping.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to photograph any of these lovely things.  You will just have to take my word that spring is definitely coming.

What's new?

In my last post I said I was playing hooky by knitting wash cloths.  Here are a few that I knit.  I didn't get photos of the ones I made for baby presents.

I am still working on the Icarus shawl.  It is going slowly, but it is going.  I don't have any updated photos.

This past weekend I went to Austin for a wedding.  While there, I got to go to Hill Country Weavers for the first time.  I had heard great things about HCW, and I was not disappointed.  It's a great store.  The colors are fabulous and they have so many different yarns.  Here is what I got while there.

I managed to snag 8 balls of Freia fine handpainted yarn.  It is a sport weight yarn, all wool and made in the USA.  I fell in love with this colorway, Ultraviolet, and picked up all the balls they had.  I have no idea what I will make out of this, but I just had to have it.