Cutie Pie

I love these pics of Charlie modelling a sweater that I made for him maaany moons ago. Look at him 'working the camera' at such a young age! I especially love his response when I asked him to show me the back of the sweater. (I'm pretty sure I won't be doing the same when I model my next completed FO heheheh)

Pattern = Rowan's "Pumpkin" from "Pipsqueaks"
Yarn = Knitpicks Andean Treasure

Jac, I've been looking through old photos today... I stumbled across these. Your little fella is such a cutie pie and brought a smile to my face. Give him a kiss for me. xxx. Love to you, and everyone back home. Sam.

Silky Wool for the Tangled Yoke

I was going to be good. I was going to use stash yarn for the Tangled Yoke cardigan. But I knit up a swatch and it's difficult to get the right gauge with this yarn without forfeiting drape -- it just felt too rigid. There was nothing for it but to go yarn shopping! I did and I found this:

I think it's going to scream 'holiday sweater'! I love it.

PS - ignore the nobbly bit on the swatch. I was dog tired last night but was determined to knit this up before I crashed. It is only the swatch after all... I'll be sure the real deal is knit whilst I'm at least half awake!

Tools I love

Look what my father-in-law made for me:


It is inspired by the homemade yarn swift by Crafty Diversions. I love it! If you need one of these and can't quite bring yourself to splurge on one, I'd highly recommend taking a look at her instructions. For the longest time I've been persuading my husband to help out, or have draped the hank around my neck... this new yarn swift is a HUGE improvement.

Another tool I love is this magnetic chart holder:

I've been working... and working... and working (you get the idea) on the Icarus Shawl and my post-it note just wasn't up to the task of keeping my place on the chart. I was sure there had to be a better way. I took a look in one of the larger craft chain stores and found this chart holder in the cross stitch section -- it's essentially a metal board that comes with some magnetic rulers. It couldn't be more perfect for what I need. Now if I can only get close to starting the frilly edge of this shawl...

Another capelet

There's not been much knitting this week; my brother is visiting from the UK and we've been hanging out. There is one update though... I made another capelet with some lovely cotton yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca. The yarn was a kind gift from my One Skein Pal and I finally put it to good use. (Excuse the fuzzy pic - my photographer is absorbed in a Miami Dolphins game... who knew football had started already? It must be a pre-season game).

Hey Jac, would you like this capelet?
I think it would suit you more than me. Let me know, and I can send it home with Baz.

Quick update

It's been a productive weekend. Jessica finished her Noni striped purse. I love how it turned out, and such great colours! I'm really impressed with how far her knitting has come in such a short time.

And she also finished her felted robot. So now Jessica and Ian both have crazy knit robots. These things are hilarious... but these guys love them.

I made pretty good progress on the Icarus shawl. It feels like I've spent forever on this already... and I've still got a long way to go. The colour is pretty. I'm hoping it turns out as well as some of the others that I've seen and admire.


And I also knit up a swatch for the tangled yoke cardigan. It's just a touch over the recommended size; I'm going to re-knit with a smaller needle to see if that does the trick without the fabric becoming rigid. I'm hoping that Interweave will run a KAL for this sweater -- it will be fun to see how others are progressing on the same project.

I love this time of year

The mailman brings lots of knitting goodies -- first there was Vogue knitting, then the latest Rowan mag, and today Interweave knits.

My favourite, by far, is Interweave knits -- it's packed full of projects that I'd love to make. At the very top of the list is Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan -- it is stunning! And if my wish list isn't long enough, Joe has chimed in that he'd love Jared Flood's Cobblestone Pullover. And who can blame him... it is a lovely design. (Yes my hubby actually has to sit through a review of each and every knitting magazine I receive hehe).

***Ooh... just had a rummage through my stash and think I have the perfect yarn for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's a Rowan DK Tweed in a lovely mauve colour. I'll be knitting up a swatch this weekend to see if I can get the correct gauge***

No other knitting news this week. I'm hoping to make good progress on the Icarus shawl this weekend. And to post some pics of Jessica's felted purse -- it looks fantastic!