Puppets and Falling Leaves

I was away golfing for the weekend, and arrived home to find a bagfull of these...

Jane dropped off 14 bodies in my mailbox! She finished the knitted bodies of lots of POPPETS, and left them for me to embroyder the faces and attach the hair. For those that don't know, my knitting girls and I provide a friend with finger puppets for the local Childrens' Hospital. He mentioned he was needing more for the kids and the girls and I have kicked it up a notch...

This pattern is one that I get the most emails about, and the puppets are knit for kids in hospitals all over the world! I am the most proud of this fact and love to hear from knitters who are doing this too for their local hospitals.

Photos of the almost leaf-less trees in western New York....

the golf was cool but fun. I am not ready to hang up the clubs just yet.

Half-way done several things (but nothing is complete!)

I am at that lull time, when lots of projects are dreamed up, planned and underway, but nothing is near finish, so I just seem to be plugging away...

The Blanket, made up of Noro and Collinette yarns, has been underway for a month now. I pick it up when I want to actually watch a TV show. It is all knitting or purling, and every row is a new yarn, cut with a fringe at the start and finish. I can't remember off hand how many stitches are in the row, but I am using a 6mm Addi afghan needle and the whole thing is about 2.5 feet wide already (and about 6 feet long along the cable needle). That makes it around half way done. It is thick and wooly and wonderful already.

The lace linen cardigan is almost up the the armholes, so it is more than half done on the body, but of course I still have the sleeves to knit. I am at the plain stocking stitch part, so again it feels a bit droning on, but the split of the sleeves should perk me up a bit. The sleeves themselves are lace patterned at the cuff, so there will be some excitement ahead!

And also exciting is the new Vogue Knitting Magazine... I found this puppy...

And I can hardly believe that batwing sleeves are back! I used to LOVE wearing those, but had to put them aside in the 90's as they were hopelessly outdated! I should have suspected their return, as big eyeglasses are showing in the sales-reps' cases once more (definately an 80's return - fueled by the "kids" that never wore them before and think they are starting a new trend (eyes rolling!)) I pick and choose what new "styles" I am personally willing to embrace, balking a bit at the return of bell bottoms a few years ago (they can't be as cool as they were in the 70's), but I wore them, although not cut low enough to show a belly piercing (not going THERE!). Won't do the sideways trucker hat, or the velour tracksuit in baby pink with Juicy or anything else written on my butt (they remind me of the "leisure suits" and "pant suits" of the sixties. Did not like them then either! Mostly I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal, and of course fabulous sweaters on top. Can't go wrong with that :)

New blog!

I have decided to blog about sewing separately from the knitting. If you are interested in all the needle arts that I am you can bookmark the new blog HERE.
I plan to bump up my sewing time, and hopefully as winter is approaching, it won't cut too much into knitting time, but it will be a test of my leisure time management skills!
Hope you stop by both blogs and comments are more than welcome on either site! enjoy!

The new Linen cardigan is coming along well. I have finished the lace border that runs around the bottom. The whole front and back are knit in one piece, so it should be nice to not have so many seams at the end. The linen feels a bit stiff, but I understand it gets softer and more drapey after washing. We will see. I have never knit with this before, and I like the feel of it so far.

The other thing that has kept me busy for a few days is a sewing project. I know, this blog is about knitting, but many of you have multi-interests, so you may enjoy walking through this one with me. I wanted to make a winter coat, and challenge myself with the many pieces, finishing details, lining and fitting and all the rusty skills I have not used for a while! The pattern is a great Vogue classic. The fabric is a charcoal grey melton (felted wool) and the lining a pretty patterned print.

The medium length (pictured in red) is my choice.
The buttons I am using are hand made from Moose Antlers, and are all a bit different, beige with a grey streak, and chunky thick. I am trying out some of the features of my new sewing machine, and have designed an embroydered detail to topstitch the collar and the pocket band. The pockets are not in the pattern at all (who makes a coat without pockets???) so I added a band and pockets on the side seams, and duplicated the band as a mock belt on the back, attached with two more Moose buttons.

The fit is good so far, and next I will be working on the lining and finishing details.

Noro Vest & New Linen!

Busy Thanksgiving weekend involved more cooking than knitting, and now I can get back to the projects on the go. The Noro button up CashIsland vest is done, and I really like the results. The bands are framed by Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in burgundy, and the colours are fabulous together.

I will wear it over a burgundy turtleneck or a white long sleeve blouse.

The collar can be unbuttoned and open on the shoulder, or buttoned to the top in a turtle neck!

The new project is a pure delight. My favourite sister came to visit from Winnipeg, and brought for me a precious package of Louet Euroflax wet spun linen, and a cute lacey cardigan pattern. This came from the fabulous Ram Wool in Winnipeg (go if you can, or shop the website, the gals who run it are great!)

Socktoberfest!

This is the time of year that all happy knitters' thoughts turn to socks. We finally (sadly) give up our sandals, and our only consolation is that we get to wear handknit socks again. And of course, as we sit knitting in the evening in our comfy chairs with our handknit sock-clad feet up on the ottomans, we realize that we are WAY behind on our sock production, what with the Christmas orders, and our own stash of socks perilously low (what? only 12 pairs? how will I survive the long Canadian winter? and what if I [gasp] get a hole in one of them?).

So we get out the sock needles, and route around in our yarn stash to get started. Here is some sock yarn I dyed last year! A cheerful colour to start out socktoberfest!

The Noro current project is almost done on the back...

and a photo of the basketweave sweater, all finished. I have worn it once already and LOVE the soft touch of Silk Garden!
I also finished altering 5 pairs of pants (take in, reshape, and change hems ), shorted sleeves on one top and finished sewing a dress... all on my new sewing machine. And I started making some quilt top squares. I am getting into the rhythm of the new machine and I think we are going to be good friends!

New Machine!

This has been a crazy busy week... work of course, but also a run into Hamilton to buy this new beauty....

Its a Janome 6600, a professional sewing and quilting machine that does everything except the dishes! It has special feeding, thread cutting, knee lifting for the presser foot and 160 stitches including monograms. wow. I have been using a basic, nice, Kenmore machine (Janome factory made) for 10 years, but this one is slick and fast.

The main reason I chose to plunge into this major purchase is the other reason it has been a busy week. Darling Daughter and I have been emailing back and forth and finally came up with the right presentation for the wedding email! She and her sweety are getting married in the Caribbean next spring and we have been busy planning and sorting the details and have finally come up with a package that we can present to family and friends. wheewww.

The machine is for the big sewing project... the wedding dress. I used to make wedding dresses back in the stay at home days. You may find a few dress photos on this blog in the near future!

Here is the newest yarn project photo.

Noro cashmere island!