Lazy Weekends and Finished Projects!

A few weekends ago I went away with a few friends. We stayed at a cabin in the mountains of W. VA and just enjoyed each others company while we knitted like fiends all weekend long. The night we arrived we found out the cabin has a plethera of Stink Bugs! One of the women that came away with us immediately got out the vacuum and started sucking up all the stink bugs she could find. It was quite funny to watch her squeal as she sucked these bugs into the vacuum!

Over the course of this long weekend away, we were able to watch several movies and had numerous well rounded discussions. We also made a side trip to a LYS *well duh, where else would we go!* For the life of me I can't remember the name of the yarn shop right now, but if I ever remember I'll let you all know. The owner was super nice and helpful!!





While we were at this cabin a deviant knitting fairy visited us during the night and screwed around with Judy's (the woman in the blue top in the picture above) knitting. She was working on a Houdini Sock one night and the next morning something was very wrong with her sock. She asked the Fearless Knitter in our group, Denise, for some assistance and when Denise spotted the error and told her about it, Judy's reply was "Well I didn't do that" in a very serious manner. We all cracked up because who else would have done it? Hence the deviant knitting fairy was born!

Here are a few more finished projects since the last time I posted about knitting :)

Jonty's Bloody Red Cap - Jonty, is a Red Cap Goblin that helped Merry fight in the book Mistral’s Kiss. He sheds a tear as Merry tells him she would bring the Red Caps into their power. He’s a minor character in the book, but for some reason I really liked him and I ♥ this series!


Pattern: Esme (Rav link)
Yarn: Fresh From the Cauldron's MCN Worsted
Colorway: Carrie
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony size 8
Modifications: none

I LUV this yarn!! It's soft, squishy, satured with color and has wonderful stitch defination!!


Ring of Poison Flowers: named for the poisoned poppies that put Dorothy and the Lion to sleep in the Wizard of Oz.


Pattern: Mobius Cowl (Rav link)
Yarn: Fresh From the Cauldron's Silk/Camel DK
Colorway: Field of Poppies from the OZ Club
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony size 8
Modifications: none

This was a very nice yarn to work with. I actually have just under half a skein leftover and might make either a beret to match or a 2nd cowl as a gift *if I can part with such pretty yarn that is*

Wrapped up in the Blues:

Pattern: Sagano Shawl (Rav link)
Yarn: Wullenstudio Sock yarn
Colorway: Tangled Up in Blue
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony size 7
Modifications: none

I got this yarn while helping my friend, Sheila, in her booth at the Homespun Party back in March. As soon as I saw the highly varigated colors in this particular skein, I snatched it up! I just had to have it and I knew it would just have to be a shawl!!

Ruska Shawl:

Pattern: Ruska Shawl (Rav link)
Yarn: Brooks Farm's Acero yarn
Colorway: SE AC8 2
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony size 7
Modifications: none

3 more days till my friend Suzanne comes to visit and the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!!

My First original design!

I finally bit the bullet and put my creative juices up to designing patterns. I was offered an opportunity to design two sock patterns for Fresh From the Cauldron's Vampire Sock Club. SquibStitcher is the indie dyer and she has an amazing eye for color and isn't afraid to try new dyeing techniques to get the results she envisions for her colors.

Here is the 1st of two patterns I designed for the sock club.


1. Tara sock design, 2. Tara socks - left toes, 3. Tara socks - right toe, 4. Tara socks - 05

The colorway is one of the club exclusives and named after a character in a vampire book. I designed the pattern with the personality of the character in mind. This character always seems to walk the fine line with trouble. She avoids one encounter only to get tangled in another.

The pattern is called Tara's Trials and Tribulations (Ravelry link). It was designed from the cuff down.



I had a lot of fun designing this pattern. It is currently being test knitted for the club. Once the club is over, it will be available on Ravelry. I'm currently working on the 2nd design, this time Toe-up!

Easter!

I know, I am way behind on my postings. I went home to NY for Easter this year. My niece is now 16 months old and an absolute doll to be around. She still isn't really talking yet, but she uses the necessary sign language to get her point across. She's currently the only baby in the family so she gets everyone attention and she loves it!



1. 100_2880, 2. 100_2879, 3. 100_2878, 4. 100_2877, 5. 100_2876, 6. 100_2875, 7. 100_2874, 8. 100_2873, 9. 100_2872, 10. 100_2871, 11. 100_2870, 12. 100_2869, 13. 100_2868, 14. 100_2867, 15. 100_2866, 16. 100_2865, 17. 100_2864, 18. 100_2863, 19. 100_2862, 20. 100_2861, 21. 100_2860, 22. 100_2859, 23. 100_2858, 24. 100_2857, 25. 100_2856, 26. 100_2855, 27. 100_2854, 28. 100_2853, 29. 100_2852, 30. 100_2851, 31. 100_2850, 32. 100_2849, 33. 100_2848, 34. 100_2847, 35. 100_2846, 36. 100_2845

You can see by the pictures of my father wearing the flower headband that she even has the big, bad Italian man wrapped around her little finger! Then again, he always had incredible patience with babies and toddlers, it was when we turned into teanagers that he lost all patience :)