TheYarnTart

FO

The yarn in this scarf has seen more frogging than most ponds. Three partial skeins of Lionbrand Woolease were given to me and I loved the way the colors worked together. But no pattern I tried seemed quite right until Maryanne posted on the Yahoo group "KnittingScarves" the basic directions for a scarf she'd made. She did her's with one solid color on each side and a multi-color yarn in the center. But the design just seemed right for these very masculine colors. The colors are; Chestnut, Autumn and Pines. It's made carrying the yarn double throughout. When I changed color I did two rows using a strand of the color that I was dropping and a strand of the color I was picking up. It made the color change very gradual which I really like. I've decided it will be a gift for a good friend of ours who just happens to have the same birthday as mine . . . but he's older!

OTN: Another scarf, this one is going to be a really fun one. It's knit in 3 strips, 10 stitches wide, then fastened together side by side at one end and braided flat, then fastened at the other end. I'm doing it in three shades of pink. The two outer strips use the same Moda Dea Tutu while the center strip will be Jo-Ann Sensations Halo if it works up to the same gauge. It's a bit different, and if it doesn't work, I'll just find something else that does. I love experimenting with the different yarns and it just doesn't seem to upset me at all that I'm adding to my stash when a yarn doesn't work as I think it will.

Meanwhile, I've finished the ribbon shawl I was making for our daughter, except for the final finish work . . . those loose ends that always need to be woven in. Probably my least favorite part of knitting, but from the discussions on some of the knit lists, I'm not the only one who doesn't seem to enjoy it.

There are so many "gotta do that, gotta try that" projects on my list I could knit forever. One that I'm anxious to start on is the Bella sweater designed by Jillian Moreno and found on "knitty". Our youngest daughter bought the yarn, Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora (because she doesn't like wool) so I could make it for her. She got a great buy on it at Herrschner's. I've decided that the size of the project warrants putting it off until the first of the year. I love the feel of the yarn and just had to swatch with it just to see what size needles I'd need. I'm so happy, because it swatched out at a rate that I'll get to use my new Skacel Addi Turbo's. Though because I'm going to make it in one piece instead of 3, I'll probably buy a longer set of the SAT's.

Max is still trying out for the position of yarn manager. It seems everytime I pick up my needles she decides it's time to sit in my lap. I've been very consistent about not letting her play with anything remotely yarn related, but that doesn't seem to decrease her interest in it. Thus, the car has been a favorite place for me to get lots of knitting done lately. Max also enjoys riding in the car. She only goes on short trips so far, and only when both hubby and I are going. I hold her so she can see out the window and she loves looking around at everything. She doesn't enjoy the freeway much, perhaps because of the increased speed of the car. Only once have I had to cage her while traveling because she became unruly. Kids will do that. At only 13 weeks of age, she's actually doing quite well. She's very social, as we started taking her to the senior facility where hubby's parents live. She gets lots of attention there and loves it.

posted by Shelly @ 11:42 PM