Sun and Sunscreen?

I just got back from a sunny week in Mexico. Not much knitting, other than at the airport and on the plane, but what a nice time we had. It was 87 F every day and we golfed every morning and swam in the pool and ocean every afternoon. The evenings were a balmy 74F, and the walk on the beach at night was wonderful. Here's a few non-knitting photos.... First Rick para-sailing...the pool...

This one is a shot of the crocodile we saw in the pond on the golf course. The Marina Vallarta golf course is home to lots of these guys but they were hard to find in the mornings. (too much tequilla the night before?)

one of many cool statues in old town Puerto Vallarta...Sunset over the Pacific Ocean....

Productive Knitting

The Christmas projects are coming along well, and of course I cannot fully disclose, but thought it may be fun to do teaser photos of the first two...

Not enough to give away the final results, but you can see I have been busy.

The patons Stretch Cotton socks are finished, and I enjoyed doing them on the one long circular needle. I will do a few more, now that the cold weather is here, they are pretty much all I wear.

Interlude...

Since I cannot show photos of knitting in progress (projects to become Christmas gifts, so not to be revealed here until later!) I will take this opportunity to show the latest art work...And I finally framed and hung on the wall, my bicycle painting from spring. I like it here.

And on a completely unrelated note....
This new game for Nintendo DS, came out recently. Prey the Stars. It is an all ages game of cool monsters eating everything in sight and competing against other cool monsters. The game is the first I have played since Intelevision in the eighties (not a game-junkie) but I mention it here because my son was part of the team that created this game for Koei Canada (his first game at his new job after graduation from UofW with a computer science degree).
Proud Mom moment...

Sock Talk

I was delighted to find Patons Stretch sock yarn on SALE at Michaels' this week. So I bought two more colours, a tan mix and a grey mix. I am already working on the green colour mix and like the results so far. The pattern is the same as my stand by sock pattern, but this yarn is 41% cotton, 39% wook, 13% nylon and 7% elastic (very stretchy) so these all year round socks hold their shape really well.

The other thing new to me is the abandoning of the traditional 4 double point needles for ONE circular in 3mm. It is a 36" Addi turbo, and I observed a clever knitter, standing, and knitting on one of these. I stared at the way she moved the cables to two big loops and the stitches to two halves of the sock, and I had a eureka moment.... no stitches slipping off the tips of the DPN's, no dropped into the sofa twilight zone needles.... miraculous really. I couldn't wait to get home and launch my first ONE NEEDLE sock...

Here are a few photos of how the sock looks at various stages...

Boo

Sometimes I take a break from knitting to use a sharp knife and cut strange shapes out of big orange vegetables.... ok, only once a year, but I really enjoy the challenge and the results.

So here are the festive gourds for Halloween 2008.

And I did this without sacrificing any fingers... wow, such talent.

Blustery Sunday

The only good thing about a miserable weather sunday is I can finally get caught up on my laundry, cleaning and knitting. I finished the MO jacket and here is the result, a fluffy, light and colourful jacket, perfect for blustery sundays. The yarn and pattern are from Fleece Artists, a Nova Scotia company who produce hand dyed natural fibre yarns with fun and simple patterns on the labels. A quick knit jacket for under $50. I like yarn folks that do that!
I also got a good start (actually more than half done) on the new Noro yarn, Yuzen, that I splurged on last Sunday at the Creative Festival. I decided to try the interesting fitted vest in the book: Fitted Knits, by Stefanie Japel. I like the ribbing for the high waist, and the slightly darted front. It is knit in the round, so seems to grow quickly and the stripes of the Noro will continue around and I avoid the mis-matched stripes at the side seams that usually come with Noro patterns. The top is split for the front and back, and I am almost at the neckline shaping for the front.

After this vest I will need to do some Christmas knitting (not too much this year) but of course I will probably not show photos of progress for these... I still want to surprise some folks on my list this year. I will catch up with photos and patterns after the big day.

Raglan Esprit Pullover

This simple beauty was designed to wear over turtlenecks or crisp collared shirts, and add some warmth but not too much to have it for outdoor use only. Esprit is a cotton yarn with a bit of elastic that gives it the stretch that cotton really needs to fit properly. This yarn will NOT droop with each wash, like a lot of cottons, and it has become a favourite of mine. The stitch detail is a bit of a rib design with two row pattern repeated... very easy.

Pattern:

Yarn: 8 balls of Esprit, mine used turquoise, but it comes in a gazillion choices (well maybe 20)

Needles: 4mm (US 6) straight for body pieces, and small circulars or double points for neck finishing.

Gauge: 18 sts and 28 rows = 4 inches in the seed rib pattern

Finished measurements: 41 inch chest, 28 inches shoulder to hem

Back: With rib needle, cast on 83 sts. Work K1, P1 ribbing for 2.5 inches. Increase on last row 9 stitches evenly spaced. (92 sts)

Change to Seed Rib Pattern: Row 1: K1, P1 across the row. Row 2 (wrong side) Purl every stitch. Repeat these two rows and work straight for 15 inches above the edge ribbing.

Raglan shaping: Bind off 10 sts at the start of next two rows. Start decreases like this... Knit 3, purl 2 together, work seed rib pattern to last 5 sts, then purl 2 together, knit 3. On the wrong side, purl across. Use this decrease row every right side for 10 repeats, then every 4th row 12 times***keep the edge stitches as established - 3 knit stitches then decrease or pattern, and end with 3 knit stitches. It creates the nice line that accents the raglan shape when stitched together.*** When 28 stitches remain (length from armhole bindoff should be approx 10 inches) bind off all.

Front: work same as for back until total of 25 inches from start has been worked. Work to center 14 sts, attach another ball of yarn, bind off center 14 sts, complete the rest of the row... Continue in the same raglan decreases, and at the same time at the neck edge decrease every second row 7 times. Continue as for back, you should end with one stitch at neck edge. Secure ends.

Sleeves: Cast on 39 sts, work in K1, P1 ribbing for 2.5 inches. Increase 5 sts across last row and switch to the seed rib pattern. Work in pattern increasing every 8 rows until 68 stitches across. Work even until piece measures 18.5 inches.

Raglan shaping: Bind off 10 sts at start of each row. Using the 3 stitch knitted edge pattern again, decrease one each side every 2nd row 8 times and every 4th row 13 times. Bind off last 4 sts.

Sew raglan seams, and work the neck: with small circular needles or double point needles: Pick up 80 sts around the neck edge. Work K1, P1 ribbing for 1 inch and bind off loosely.

Sew arm and side seams, and sew in ends of yarns.