Friday Fun – Dr. Who I love You!

I love Dr. Who.  Yep, it is true, and I’m announcing it to everyone, I love Dr. Who.  I started watching Dr. Who when I was pretty little, because my older brother would watch it on PBS after mom and dad had gone to sleep.  The doctor I remember most from those early days was Tom Baker.  Maybe it was his scraf that eventually drew me to knitting, one will never truly know.  My husband enjoys Dr. Who as well, and through Netflix we’ve watched many different doctors, and now we own quite a few of the DVD’s I must admit.  I’m anxiously awaiting the next season with the new doctor, he wasn’t my favorite but he really grew on me quickly, and I love his bowtie, “bowties are cool.”  My dad would agree with that. 

So for Friday Fun I bring you one of my favorite projects, from one of my favorite knitters.  Exterminate by Lorraine.  In fact I think it is going to my next on the needle at work project when I finish my tulip mittens.  I have a remote controlled Dalek after all, I think I NEED this hat.  And best of all, its a free pattern.  So you should all cast on for your favorite Dr. Who fan.

why you looking at me?

This weekend is going to be full, we have to get tires for the car, and I really really need to finish weaving the baby blanket so I can get the log-cabin project warped.  I also need to hem the log-cabin stuff I have done so that I can wash it and see how much it shrinks.  Why is there never enough time for our crafts?

 

Thursday Threads

Today’s highlighted project is by Janna, Pea Vines.  I am not familiar with this pattern, but as soon as I saw it on her project page I fell in love. 

When I was little my mom always had a huge garden in the first house I truly remember living in, and one of the things I looked forward to most in harvesting were Sugar Snap Peas.  Of course I think I probably ate more than I actually picked for the family consumption.  They were so sweet and yummy, and I think it is the first vegetable I really truly loved to eat.  I wish I had time to garden, when we first moved into our house we put a garden in for several years but during that time I was working part-time, and now as a full-time plus person, time is a luxury I don’t seem to have. 

Current Project List:

1. Tablecloth for Mom
2. Celtic Afghan for Shannon’s Bambino
3. Swirl Shawl for me me me
4. The Third’s Blanket (weaving)
5. Log Cabin Table Ensenble (weaving)
6. Irish Diamond Shawl (in a basket waiting to be worked on again)
7. Tulip Mittens (waffling on who these are for)

I can't help it I'm a fur ball

I will be so happy when Django quits blowing his coat! There is fur in absolutely every corner, nook and cranny of my house, and in my lungs.

 

Tuesday Two’s – Locks for Love

I was going to post about steeks for Method Monday, but realized as I was looking for an example of a sweater you would use steeks in that it is in fact, Tuesday.

I'm so odd.

So I did something on Saturday I haven’t done in nearly 16 years, I cut all my hair off.  Well okay not all of it, but I went from hair 1/2 way down my back (if not farther) to my chin.  I desperately needed a style to my hair and decided to cut it off to shoulder length, but then I decided to do something useful with all that hair and I had them cut it off to send in to Locks of Love.  So two ponytails are on their way to Florida.  I’m still not used to my new short hairdo, I like it one moment and hate it the next. 

For the Tuesday Two project I’ll share one of my works in progress. Tulip Mittens.  I didn’t really have a purpose for these, I like them, but don’t love them, so I think I’m going to gift them to a co-worker who is leaving us in August.  Her last day is August 20th, and I have one mitten done, and one to go.  It’ll be something for her to remember us by and well I also just taught her how to knit. 

Don't even think about interrupting lazy weekend.

For the long weekend, I didn’t do much.  I actually feel a little bad about that, I should have gotten something accomplished at my house but I’ve been feeling so blahsay lately, probably the heat, I hate heat.  I did get quite a bit of knitting done though.  I needed to weave and get the blanket I have on there off the loom, and my in-laws anniversary present on the loom (considering their anniversary was yeterday) but it just didn’t happen.  Maybe this coming weekend. At least the dogs enjoyed the lazy weekend.

2011 Yarn Crawl – Final Stop – Knitorious

Knitorious

Last but not least I headed another few miles down the road and ended up at Knitorious.  Knitorious looked small on the outside, but inside it was quite impressive.  They have a great stock of yarn, all types, and several I had never seen before.  It was also very well organized and incredibly eye appealing.  In another room they had a nice sitting area and a wonderful pattern area to browse.  It reminded me of going when I was little to a fabric shop with my grandmother and sitting looking at patterns.  I only did that once or twice but the memory was ingrained firmly in my mind.  I was greatly impressed by the store and unfortunatley I figured out it is the closest to my work and I could easily get there and back on my lunch hour for a knitting emergency!  I bought a lovely pattern and yarn to make a cool shawl.  The Swirl Shawl.

What is it about a yarn store that makes you just sigh with happiness?

Once again the staff was lovely, left me alone when I wanted to be left alone, but there to help when I needed it.  I also couldn’t help but over hear the woman I took to be the owner and a patron talking about their parrots.  Apparently there is a connection in St. Louis between knitters and parrots.

Within a few mile circle on this trip last Friday I visited 4 very unique and 4 very fun stores.  All different, all interesting, and all fitting a particular need in the knitting community.  I think we are well endowed in St. Louis with knitting stores, as in a few hours I visited 4 really cool shops, and there are several more I didn’t visit on this one day including Hearthstone Knits and the Weaving Department.  And these are just in the St. Louis more typical area, when you discover the outskirts like the Metro East and surronding countryside in Missouri, we have many many more.  Now if we could just get an awesome fiber festival!

Melody for Swirl Shawl - I cast on that Friday and have 1 row of 9 complete!

Thursday I taught a co-worker to knit.  Monday I’m teaching her more, and there are a couple others who know want to learn however I question their integrity in their desire.  But we’ll see.

2011 Yarn Crawl – Stop 3 – Ewe Knit Yarns

Believe it or not this is at 12:00 p.m.! It was getting ready to really storm!

Next up is the newest yarn store in St. Louis, Ewe Knit Yarns. She just opened her shop in Webster Groves on May 1 (or around there).  It is a lovely little store with a very nice assortment of yarn from inexpensive to expensive.  And best of all, a yarn store parrot named Cosmo!  I was completely taken in by Cosmo, he even sat on my finger and gave me a kiss.  But then I’m a sucker for a yarn store with a pet, and one with a parrot, well you knew I had to be sold.

Love the baskets, displaying the yarn!

Ewe Knit Y arns is really a lovely neighborhood yarn store.  She has a great start and I think will become a great stable in the community of Webster Groves.

Cosmo - Ewe Knit Yarns Pet

Not only did I buy some lovely Plymouth Taria Tweed, which I think I’m going to knit a vest out of, or maybe a shawl, I’m just not sure, but she also had the Herbert Niebling pattern I’ve been coveting, Lyra.  I can’t wait to knit it.  Funny enough, I found out that the doily I knit from Danish Lace Treasures, Doretta, is attributed to Herbert Niebling!  I must be a groupy of his.

Another really fun feature of Ewe Knit Yarns is her giant knitting needles her mom made her, they are soooo cool.  I want a pair for my house.  I’d love to hang them on my wall!

Giant Knitting Needles!

After I left Ewe Knit Yarns, (which by the way I can’t wait to go back – if not to just see Cosmo again) I took myself to lunch at a lovely little cafe down the street, and then I headed to my final stop on my yarn crawl, Knitorious.

2011 Yarn Crawl – Stop 2 – Kirkwood Knittery

It is hard to tell, but those are flowers on the roof!

After my delightful visit to the Loopy Ewe, I headed to the Kirkwood Knittery.  It is about 4 miles from my first stop.  On my way I passed this fantastic nursery where every year they roof their building with flowers.  I took a quick picture, although it isn’t as magnificent as it will be in about 6 weeks.  It is a St. Louis oddity highlight.

So on to the Kirkwood Knittery.  As I drove there a very large storm was bearing down on the city.  But inside the Knittery was a pure delight.  It is a smaller store than some, but they have a wonderful selection, including skeined Zephyr.  I love Zephyr for making lace and was tempted to purchase for another shawl, but I have sooo much laceweight that I haven’t knit with.  There was a lesson being conducted with a little girl about 7.  Her grandmother had brought her there to learn from Brooke.  She was doing very well in her lesson.  A born knitter I think.  I couldn’t snap many pictures inside the store, as it was pretty small, and I didn’t want to take pictures of any guests and post them.  But I was really impressed with her button selection and this really cute little tree of felted booties, so I snuck some pictures of them.

I'm going back for buttons and clasps! As soon as I have something to close.

The store was manned by the owner and a lovely woman wearing a pink hat with a flower on it.  I don’t know her name, but I loved her pink hat. Although I kept expecting her to offer me a cup of tea, I think i watch too much British television.  There was also displayed a lovely capelet.  I really wanted to purchase the lucious silk yarn to knit it, but alas, i am not much of a pastel pink person and didn’t like the other colors available in the yarn right then.  But maybe one day.

Won't this make some awesome mittens!

After I purchased my yarn, some lovely course wool to make a new pair of mittens, I made way to Stop 3, Ewe Knit Yarns.

2011 Yarn Crawl – Stop 1 – The Loopy Ewe

The Loopy Ewe - Do you Know the Entrance Password?

Oh what fun I had on my Friday of Fun visiting 4 yarn stores in St. Louis.  It wasn’t that long ago that I realized that the acclaimed Loopy Ewe was in my city.  I was shocked, but unfortunately due to limited hours (after all I think she’s mainly an on-line store) I’ve never been able to visit.  So having a chance to visit there was wonderful.  I could have gotten lost in there for hours, and the staff leaves you alone so you really could get lost for hours.  But they were there when I needed help.

Sensory Overload!

I think the thing that impressed me most was the amount of hand-painted yarn.  I was overwhelmed by all the amazing colors.  I wanted to buy it all, and I seriously thought about it. But knowing I had 3 more stores to visit I restrained myself to some of Loopy’s yarn.  Choosing which colorway was hard! I wafffled for over a half an hour, I put yarn in my lovely little basket they give you to shop with, and I put it back, then I put it back in my basket, then back on the shelf.

An inviting Place to Sit

On this yarn crawl I had good intentions. I wanted to limit my yarn purchases to buy yarn to knit the story of Spud & Chloe, and at the Loopy Ewe they had the yarn.  But when I started adding up the costs to knit these toys, I realized that I was indeed insane.  Toys are wonderful, but luscious expensive yarn should be wrapped around you in a veil of comfort.  So, well, my plan went out the door in about 45 minutes.  But I have 4 new planned projects and lovely memories of my yarn crawl that will last me the year.  My Loopy Ewe purchase will be a shawl, and a cup to commemorate the start of my crawl, because I needed a good mug for coffee.

My Loppy Ewe Purchase

So the Loopy Ewe, I used google maps and made my route from my office (I had to drop off Pineapple Upside Down Cakes for an ALS bake sale), then I cranked the radio and headed out to my first destination.  I pulled up to the address, and it is an office building. Hmmmm….was I in the right spot?  I parked my car and went inside.  Yep, there on the sign, Suite 107, the Loopy Ewe.  I got to the door, and to get in you had to ring a bell. I felt like I was entering a secret society, a hidden den of yarn wonder, a speakeasy of yarn quite possibly.  And then you walk in to the most incredible sight, row after row after row of lovely colors and yarn of every type.  I felt like yarn was on prohibition and I had to have the secret password to get my yarn fix.  And no one outside that office space knew such a wonderous world existed behind that cold white door.  I felt like a child entering Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  I think it had been too long since I immersed myself in the world of yarn.  i can’t believe all the wonders I had lost by shopping mainly online in the last few years due to a heavy work load and crazy schedule.  It was fun having my yarny senses revived.

Next Up we stop at the Kirkwood Knittery!

Do they make this in adult sized?

7 Bibs

I finished the seven bibs!  And may I say they are pretty darned cute.  I even let out some of my creativity and made each bib different, striped, polka dots, striped and polka dots, well and then multi-colored yarns (does that count?).  They were super quick, I could make one in just a few hours.  And cheap as I used inexpensive Lily Sugar ‘n Cream yarn.  Its a bib, it doesn’t need to be fancy yarn, right?  All seven are individually pictured on my ravelry projects page (rebekahIrene).

woo hoo mommy's home!

I am off work for the next two days and today I was going to weave, but my cyst is bugging me and weaving often aggrevates it.  So I think I’ll knit on the blanket and the tablecloth, and weave later in the week.   Tomorrow after I take a couple of pineapple upside down cakes to work for a bake sale to raise money for ALS research I am going to go on a St. Louis Yarn Crawl! I’m so excited.  There are sooo many yarn stores I’ve never been to, so tomorrow I’m going to 4 of them.  Plus maybe one I’ve already been to.  I will start my crawl and the Loopy Ewe, then the Kirkwood Knittery, then Ewe Knit Yarns, then Knitorious.  If I still have time I’m going to go to Hearthstone Knits which I’ve been to before, but not often.  Since I know the Weaving Department like the back of my hand, I’m not going to go there, and unfortunately Knit & CAboodle is out of the path as its quite a ways away from where I’ll be and then home, so I won’t be able to go there.

Well I’m off to snuggle the dogs, knit, make pineapple upside down cakes, and then tonight I’m meeting up with a bunch of girls and going to a Taste of Home Cooking Show.  whew, there’s a lot to do.

The Wise Old Owl

My Grandparent's Backyard

I have always loved Owls.  The fact that they can turn their heads nearly completely around, look at you with those big beautiful eyes, and the fact that they like Tootsie Pops.  My grandmother had a thing for owls, and for years a beautiful owl picture hung over their couch in the living room of the Laurel, Florida home.  They used to get Barred Owls that lived in the little wooded area behind their home (if you follow that link, the picture there looks like the painting my grandmother had).  Owls definitely look incredibly wise.

I was searching around Ravelry for today’s Tuesday Two featured project, and found these lovely Owl Mittens from Kelly.  It just reminded me of that picture, well actually that and my mom and I for some reason were talking about it this morning, and figured it was a perfect project feature for today.

Keep the trees out of my kennel -- look at me, I mean business!

In other news a huge limb fell on my house last night.  No damage.  Except it was periously hanging over Abner and Django’s kennel.  So Nick had to stay home to take care of it, because had it fallen on the kennel no doubt Django would be gone, because he’d take off on a doggy adventure and forget to come home.

I-Cord Edging

I am probably late to this game, as I typically am, but these bibs I’ve been making have an I-cord tie and then edging for the neck area. I must admit I’m enthralled, it makes a rather nice edging.  So I did a quick search on the internet to see what resources are out there.  Here is what I found:

• Applied I-Cord Bind-Off Video on You Tube.
• I-Cord Bind off tutorial on Knitty.
• The Keyboard Bioligist Tutorial on I-Cord Bind-Off
• I-Cord Tips and Techniques

I do drool a lot, but this is ridiculous.

Part of the fun in making these bibs has been the torturing of Abner and Django.  In fine bib torture I feel, because after all

Chris

likes to persecute Chaos. But they wouldn’t stick around for much, and quickly ran away when they saw me coming.  Oh well, I was able to snap these shots.

AFter this weekend, here is my project update run-down, I made good progress on the bibs completeing 5 of them, just two more and I’ll be done. 

1. Mom’s Tablecloth
2. Double-Knit Baby Afghan (which is turning out the size of a normal afghan)
3. Bibs for Co-Worker Bambino (5 of 7 finished)
4. 1 Chemo Caps for Nick’s Aunt
5. Woven Baby Blanket for Co-Worker
6. Woven Log-Cabin Table Ensemble
7. Tulip Mittens
8. Irish Diamond Shawl