CarmelKnits, etc.

Well what can I say but Eeeeek! They're over the top now!! Time for those delicious spuds to start growing under the dirt!! In other vegetable news the beets are coming along nicely, the tomatoes not so much but we have had a crappy spring & beginning of summer so maybe if we get a stint of solid sun and heat they might get busy.

I know, I know, it's selfish to knit something for myself when there are so many other people that I am knitting for at the same time, but every once in a while I need to do some me knitting and this is it. It has all the elements I love about a sweater made for me...... 1. Top down 2. Short sleeves 3. Fetching cable pattern down the front and back. 4. Calls for worsted weight Pattern Name: Jetty Designer: Cecily Glowik MacDonald Website: Winged Knits you can also find this and more of her patterns on Ravelry! (I can't link because not only am I typing this on my phone I am doing it with my thumb....and I wonder where my wrist problems are coming from lol) Size Range: 30&3/4 inches to 52 Knitting know how: cabling, increases, decreases, and remembering which stitch marker you designated for the beginning of the round. I have eight total stitch markers on here now and for this project I chose the 'fatty tuna' sushi stitch marker as my beginner. Since I used my fancy ...

I finished this on Friday and since it was 70 degrees on Saturday the recipient put it on briefly to see how it fit and that was it......so you get a photo of a hat with my stylish pink plaid pj bottoms in it......... Pattern: Hermione Hearts Ron by Christy Ayelsworth, Ravelry Link here Yarn: Cascade 220 (164 yards people I can't stress this enough) in a teal blue usually less than $5.00 p/skein and it really only used 1 skein, talk about a great money saving gift! Difficulty: I would say it's easy if you have a basic knowledge of cabling, yarn overs and general decreasing, plus as with all knitting knowing how to count goes a long way.....(i only point this out because sometimes I forget) Anyway, Molly was thrilled and I think it will get a lot of use, especially when her family goes to their mountain cabin in the winter :) Hope everyone had a great weekend......... C

Sadly I have to be at work all day while you and Gabby celebrate at home but have I got a surprise for you on my way home tonight!!  Mr. Brown & Gabby's 3rd and 1st birthday party. From left to right: Gabby, Lucy, Sable, Mr. Brown, and Nellie  Hard to believe that he is 9 years old. He was just shy of 2 when we adopted him. He's probably the quirkiest boxer I've met so far. He loves to lay in the sun till he's hot as anything, he likes a spoonfull of fresh brewed coffee every once in a while in his dish. He'll knock you down for a chocolate chip cookie, and if cake is in the vicinity well you better wrap barbed wire around it because he LOVES cake. He drools the minute you start peeling a satsuma around Christmas and he's been known to eat tomatoes right off the vine. Recently he has adopted my green chair in the living room as his, which is fine, our first boxer did that as well when was older so I guess it's fair.............He makes me happy, he...

It was summer. Probably 1980. Grandpa & Grandma were visiting. I was sitting on our back deck in Bellevue under the green umbrella eating cheerios with Grandpa J with fresh strawberries on them. I can still smell the smoke from his cigarette and taste the tang of fresh strawberries......we're just going to ignore the fact that in today's photo I am eating rice krispies......

One of my current works in progress. Molly races with my husband on Saturdays and we pit right next to each other. She just turned 16 this past Saturday. I knew I wanted to make her something but I wasn't sure what it would be until I remembered this pattern So here are the deets: Pattern Name: Hermione Hearts Ron by Christy Aylesworth Inspiration: Hermiones hat in the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Yarn: Cascade 220 Sport (Remember, it's really not 220 it's really 164) But since the pattern calls for 159 I might just squeak it in under the wire and if that is the case well I know what a lot of people will get for Christmas this year. Skill Level: I would say advanced beginner. You'll want knowledge of yarn over's, purl 2 together and cabling. It's an easy repeat to remember and is detailed enough to keep you entertained. That's it for now. I have recovered from Saturday and had a wonderful dinner with my father and husband last n...

I'm not 22 anymore and that fact has been driven home by the fact that I can't drink beer as well as take a few (6-7) jello shots in a night and not end up at home not feeling 100% ready to take over the world. Currently I am sitting in my dining room eating toast hitting the backspace (erase)button a number of times more than usual. I'm eating toast, cereal would be by normal go to at this point but my milk seems to have gone funky. lets just put it this way I drank keg beer tonight out of red plastic cups, something i have done since college. I did more jello shots than I should  have.... and I am currently blogging and I drunk texted my friend back in MN when they were playing her song..........Sorry my Brown Eyed Girl! I answered my phone when I probably shouldn't have (sorry Mikey) I am happy to say that this is not a typical Saturday night. well I might try to knit but I think that's out of the question. Happy 50th Rod. We had a great time. L, F, K, ...

She'll eat as many beets as I will. No tomatoes yet but I am done covering the potatoes and it's time for them to do their thing!

I gave you my recipe for tortellini pesto salad.........if that didn't tempt you maybe a photo will.

I'm not sure why I chose that for the title........just those two words give me a stomach ache. I used to have really bad progress reports in school, really bad, and even though I'm no longer in school and mom is no longer getting progress reports in the mail quarterly I still shudder and tiny bit. There are other words from my teenage years that give me that feeling that I'm going to vomit but we'll gloss over that for now.  Oh well, I'm past it and now onto the real PG. Fatima, the shawl I'm knitting/designing at the same time is moving along. It started wtih a seed stitch edge and bottom border. Then I switched to slanted open work while maintaining the seed stitch edge. Now for the main body of the shawl, I chose a fountain pen lace pattern from my book. I've only done 2 repeats of it so far but I think it's going to be AMAZING. I will need to make some notes tonight, like how many stitches I started with and how many I have currently on the needle...

Women love their stylist. You put a certain level of trust into their hands and scissors when you plop down in that chair, and a good one will take you in looking frazzled from a long day at work, look at your limp, product laden hair, pulled back tight in a hair band (poor containment system) smile, ask how you have been, put a glass of wine in your hand and go to work. When you leave, you feel as if you could walk down the red carpet at the Grammys. That's a good stylist. I have maintenance issues with my hair. Truth be told, styling my hair is tedious and I put it right up there with sewing knit pieces together (seriously hate that) I've been known to let my hair go long enough that it looks as if took a hiatus and lived in the jungle for a few months. Then I make an appointment and lop it all off. This time I switched to a whole new salon because at my old salon I cancelled my last three appointments and felt a certain level of embarrasment. Doing a search online I turned u...

But I'm pretty sure I only have one in me per year. What am I talking about? Wedding Shawls of course. There is so much thought to be put into it. You need to know the bride fairly well, have an idea what the dress is going to look like and have the patience of a 4 year old during a sliver removal while working with the lace yarn. Then you spend hours pouring thru lace shawl patterns and ask the question triangular or rectangular? Again, this is where it helps to know the bride because not all brides are triangular shawl types and not everyone can pull off a rectangular shawl. I poured over a lot of patterns, even started a few and then decided to do my own thing armed with my book of lace patterns and large number of stitches.This is for my friend Fatima who is getting married this fall. I chose a simple openwork lace with a seed stitch border so that it'll be open and airy and yet not distract from the simple lines of her dress (which is lovely by the way). Alpaca and Silk la...

Check out this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4UexZZyuo8&feature=youtube_gdata_player Sent from my iPad

Not much fun to come home to a sick dog.......especially on a nice day. Upside our friend from WA. Boxer Rescue thinks she has the flu.....downside; I'm on vomit patrol for 24 hours and she's now on a 24 hour fast......looks like I am in for a fun night ahead. Currently her and Mr. Brown are spying on the back neighbors graduation party and I think they are digging the music:)

On the rise!!!! Yes!

So I know over the past two weeks I've talked about little Damien in his knitted goodies from me, but I had only seen pictures and not actually met him in person, until last night.........Last night was his first night at the racetrack and my chance to meet him. When I got up to the top of the grandstand where the little heartbreaker was surrounded by women, there he was wrapped up in his blanket that has already been washed many times and still looks great! He was snuggled in there and happy as could be, I got to cuddle with him for a bit and his Aunt Hailey snapped a photo of us. I haven't seen it yet in full view but on the back of her SLR it looked pretty cute :) Let me tell you one thing; Knitting for others is a joy to me, watching a piece take shape all the while thinking about who's going to have it, wondering if they'll love it. I rarely see the things I knit ever again once I give them away and so I still wonder if they are loved, or put away, or tagged in...

What a super fun hat to make! I loved knitting it, I loved the yarn I chose and blah blah blah. I'm sad to say that as much as I love the hat, as much as I love the yarn, and as much as I want to keep it and wear it for myself, it doesn't look good on me, or I personally don't think it looks good on me so I'm giving it to a friend (Brittany) and I think it'll look fabulous on her, have no doubt though, I plan on making another one and another and another. I think they'll make great gifts for friends and family for Christmas! So, without further adieu here are the deets! Pattern: Smocked Slouch by Knitterella . This is Jill's first pattern and I think it's brilliant Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted. Colorway: Intenso Needle size: 7  Like I said, I loved knitting this. If you haven't tried it yet smocking stitch is tons of fun and not hard at all! There are tons of videos online that will show you how........I've said it before but it's wor...

After a hot summer day spending the morning running errands the afternoon in the yard kicking back to relax and knit this is the look I get.........

During a conversation at breakfast: "wow you went from 0 to Nuts really freaking fast this morning!" Well I like to keep life exciting! Off to try out my new lawnmower! Happy Sunday Sent from my iPhone

Time to cover again already!!! These are my potatoes growing like crazy! Wheeeeeee!

Bertha the Brown Bird Enjoying the sun and boat racing at Silver Lake I am enjoying it too!

He makes me laugh. Now he needs a name!

Well according to this photo I have two WIP's.....both of which I am enjoying immensely! It's a beautiful afternoon north of Seattle and for the first time since last summer the breeze carries more warmth and not the sting of winter! This is my number one favorite thing to do after work on Fridays, sit on my deck, knit something simple, and drink a beer(s). D is out at the race track so it's just me and the hounds tonight. Soon we're going to grab another beverage, some cheese & crackers and hunker down out here to work on this current project! Ever since I joined Ravelry in 2008 I have been enamored with baby sleep sacks......I just love them so now I am making the first of many I am sure! Pattern: the Ella and Grady Sleep Sack (that's right folks it's a twofer!) Yarn: happy feet dk in a color I call Crayola Crazy! Needles: 16" size 3 circulars This is the Grady Sleep Sack the Ella one will be done next! Later tonight when I hunker down with a movie I ...

Is logging in to your computer and finding a picture of a baby wrapped up in something you knit for them before they were born. As I said before, my friend Mindy gave birth to Damien on Monday. Yesterday there were two pictures of him one in his little race snuggy and one of him in his big bad baby blanket. I was all twitterpated last night and it took a while to settle down. Sorry to all my friends I text about this, I was supremely excited. I had the same feeling after the weekend when I was reading my best friends blog and saw pictures of her beautiful daughter Elaina in the little Whirligig Shrug I made her. She of course was stunning. These pictures, these feelings, and these babies are what make knitting 100% fun for me!!

I know it won't come as a suprise to you, but I have a lot a few (20) items on the needles right now. I would love nothing more than to show them to you, in fact it's killing me not being able to show them off to the world but they are a surprise and therefore must remain Top Secret (except for those of you who get bombarded by emails of progress photos all day long to feed my self need that my knitting is wonderful and love will be showered upon me for the work I have done). I'll give you some teasers though, one of the items is being knit out of Sox that Rock Medium Weight in the color Sweat Pea, last year it was a Rockin Sock Club colorway that this year has been released for public consumption. When it arrived last year with my packet of club goodness I didn't like it. In fact there may have been some downright disgust with it, BUT when I found the pattern that I am making it was that yarn that popped into my mind and I knew it would be perfect. It is perfect and y...