Happy Thanksgiving

It was a stunning day today in LA. We had our turkey meal wednesday night with Josh. I have not cooked a whole Thankgiving meal in.... well.... forever.

The food was great and time spent with the boys always the best.

That left Thanksgiving Day to enjoy perfect weather (80 degrees) and crystal clear skies.
What do you do if you live in LA on a day like today?
You go to the Beach Baby!

Malibu Pier

I was in heaven reading one of my new Favorite Magazines

Mr. Marvelman enjoyed the water and then chilled out.

After a couple hours of bliss we headed over the Gladstone's to enjoy some clam chowder beachside and watch the sunset.

The traffic was so light that we got home from Santa Monica in about 20 min. That drive can be anywhere from 45 min to 2 hours!

I am so grateful for days like today and being able to spend time with Scott and the beautiful ocean that brings me such peace.
I hope you all found some peace in the bustle of the day and found time to enjoyed the space you found yourself in.

My Knitting Weekend

I am in full swing of holiday knitting. My little knitting fingers are tired indeed. But I have to be honest and say that the project I have worked on most this weekend is an UFO.

This is the blanket I started for Josh last christmas. I worked on it a lot last winter. But it is a big blanket, he is a big guy and I just couldn't get it done before the weather turned too warm to have a giant blanket on my lap. The hardest part of pulling out a hibernating project is trying to figure out where you are and what still needs to be done. I was so happy to find that I have only the borders left to do.

But oh those borders are longggggggg.
If the stars work in my favor this week I should have it done by Thanksgiving. As long as I get it to him before this christmas I have been successful. Right??

Added Dec. 28, 2009
I finally got some pictures of the finished Bronco Blanket with Josh. He uses it all the time!!

Knitting Retreat at Lake Arrowhead

Marvels of Knitting's First Knitting Retreat!
It was at Lake Arrowhead the first weekend of Nov. 2009

16 of us went and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect. The food amazing. The laughs and knitting plentiful. The friendships and time with each other dare I say "Priceless".

Our Home for the weekend right on the lake.

Settling in for the weekend.

Cindy's Socks are Done!

The view was wonderful from the deck.

It was cool but we had a lot of hand knits to keep us warm!

Judy knitting out on the deck.

Sylvia is wearing and knitting her scarf at the same time!

Debra on dinner duty.

Rebecca cooking dinner with style.

The Surprise project for the weekend. The gnomes quickly multiplied. pattern here

Here they are in their own habitat!

We were already talking about the next one as we cleaned up from the weekend. Spring time at the beach??
You can see all the pictures here

The Finished Project Parade

I have finally put up a lot of my FO's on Ravelery which means that I have finally taken pictures of everything. Here are some of the projects that have been keeping me busy the last couple of months.

Baby Blanket Tulip Style

Yarn: Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton
1 skein of pink, cream and green. 2 skeins of the brown
Needle: #10
Cast-on 100 stitches.
Blanket measures about 32x32

I love this yarn. It is really soft and has a lovely weight to it. This pattern was inspired by the Tulip Baby Sweater. You do a seed stitch pattern on the row that you add the new color and that makes the "eyelet" effect. I think EraLunaris came up with the idea.
Simply Lovely!

Veyla Gloves

Pattern: Yoslda's Veyla
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss 1 skein (had a good amount left over)
Needle: #3

I loved making these gloves. The lace is a simple 23 stitch pattern (except for evil row 4). The pick up edge for the hand is done with the wrong side facing and the slip stitches form a wonderful edge. The thumb is shaped with yarn overs, genius. Every little detail is just beautiful. I hope I have time to knit another pair of these for myself. Yes, these are mine!

Beaumont Tam

Pattern: Jared Flood's Beaumont Tam
Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco in Cool Raspberry and Graystone
Needle: #4 and #8

I love this yarn. It has some angora which makes that wonderful halo that looks so good in color work. I never noticed the angora when I was knitting it. It wasn't on my cloths or in my nose. The finished hat is so soft and lushes.

The hat pattern was a fun knit. Easy to understand. I enlarged the charts so I could see what I was doing. Have I told you how much I love color?

Damson

Pattern: Ysolda's Damson
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock Yarn
Needle: #6

I have knitted several of Ysolda's patterns and have enjoyed them all. This one is no exception. Super simple, lot's of garter stitch, yarn overs and K2tog. Talk about something you don't have to think about yet the results are wonderful.

Malabrigo, need I say anything more. A simply beautiful pattern + luxury yarn = my definition of heaven.

Most of these project where either for classes or for christmas. I am starting to think about classes for the winter and what I want to knit. The goal is to make them one and the same. I find that the project I love to knit are the classes that end up with most of the buzz.

What are you looking forward to knitting after the holidays?

New Books!!

I LOVE FALL. I love everything about fall. The colors, the smells, the sounds, the food, the list goes on and on. Of course knitting takes on a whole new dimension in the fall. The wools and alpacas come out to play and the new fall knitting books hit the shelves. I have been waiting for these two books to come out and I was not disappointed.

First up is Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Toys:
These are some of the cutest toys ever. Here are a few of my favorite projects.

I am going to make these for me to use!

Need I say anything???

These ducks are on Wheels. How brilliant is that!!

Princess and the Pea

She has about 4 or 5 "topsy-turvy" dolls. Turn one inside to get the other one. I have not looked to see what the process for knitting these little guys are but I love love love them.

I have already got this little guy on the needles.

Kristin Nicholas is one of my favorite color knitters. She has a wonderful blog about her knitting and her life on the farm. She has been blogging about the patterns in her new book with lots of pictures.

My favorite part of the book is the beginning. She talks a lot about using color and the how to do so. There is talk about swatching for color (another reason to knit up those little squares).

Lots of instruction on fair-isle, steeking, making up your own patterns, the magic of embellishing and duplicate stitching.
She talks about where she gets her inspiration, which surprise surprise is all around her.
These are my favorite pics in the front of the book before you even get to the outstanding patterns.

This is just the inside cover!

I want a stack of knitting like this sitting on a chair in my living room. Could you pass that and not smile? I sure couldn't!

You're smiling aren't you??

This is one of my favorite things in the book and I am going to make me at least one. Call it a design board, inspiration wall, Walk by and smile space?? Call it anything you want but what fun is this??

This covered ottoman has inspired me to cover my poor beat-up ottoman and possibly the chair that goes with it. I will do the ottoman first so that if I am over this idea at the end of that project I will not be without a chair.

I am thinking this pattern from Mason-Dixon "Outside the Lines" could be nice.
I would knit it with a much smaller gauge yarn so the pattern won't be as big. Haven't really checked to see if it will work but could be prudy!

There are more books to be talked about and a few magazines. What have you been inspired by?

Swatches: An Esoteric Science

I started The Sweet Pea Coat for a christmas present.
For all garments I swatch and I almost swatch properly.

What is swatching properly?

My understanding is:
1. Knit a 6" inch square. How many stitches will be about 6 inches? If your gauge is 20 stitches=4" then 30 stitches should get you a 6 inch square. 1 1/2 times the number of stitches equaling 4 inches.

2. Knit your swatch with a garter boarder by knittig for 2 rows. Then start the stitch pattern noted in your directions. Knit the first and last 2 stitches. Knit till swatch is about 5". Knit the last two rows.

3. Cast-off and wash and dry your swatch the same way you will wash and dry your garment. Then measure you stitches.

This is my reality:

I do cast on 1 1/2 times the stitches need for 4" gauge.
I do garter ridges because I hate dealing with the curling edges.

Then my short cuts take over.

I knit about 3" and then take a measurement of my stitches per inch. If I am on gauge I would do a few more rows, cast off and do the washing and drying.

But what if I don't have gauge?
I knit 2 rows which creates a ridge so I know when I changed my needles and then I go up or down needle a size to get the right gauge.

I repeat the above until I have gauge. Cast off and wash and remeasure.

Of course that sounds like a lot but it is worth the hour or so to have a good chance of a fitted garment.

Here is where knitting a swatch leaves the Scientific realm and moves into the Esoteric side of things.

I have no good explanation for why a swatch doesn't put you on the right track all the time. In the perfect knitting world it would.

You have given your time and energy to making friends with your new yarn. You have married the perfect needle with the yarn and the pattern. All should go swimmingly as far as measurements go. But then for no good reason the science of "stitches per inch" leads your project astray.

After knitting a few inches of the back of the jacket the measurements for the width is not correct.

What? Not the right measurements??
The right number of stitches? YES
The right gauge? YES
But it is not the right measurement?? OMG
The back is not even close to being the right measurement. It is 2" too small. 16" instead of 18 1/2".

Could I block it to fit? Yes.
But I really don't want to. This is a jacket and is going to be worn over clothing. I want it to have enough ease.

So Now What???
Cry?
Put the project in time out?
Go clean the bathroom and scrub really hard?
Find another project that I can use the yarn on?
Start a scarf that doesn't need a swatch???
All of the above??

I really want to do this jacket and it is a Christmas present. I really need it done. So on I go..........
I did time it out for a few days.

I am not going up a needle size. I am on a size 13 and a 15 makes the fabric way to loose (why is there only 1/2 stitch difference between the 13 and the 15 needle? Those needles are very different. There is a bigger difference between the 11 and the 13. More esoterics at work).

Actually I would like to go down to a size 11. I like the fabric better. If I go down a needle size to a smaller gauge then I will have to adjust the numbers.
Oh no, the "M" word (math).

I swatched on a size 11. My gauge is tighter, the fabric looks better. How many stitches do I need to get the right number of inches for the size I am knitting? I do a little of that "M" stuff and.....

Oh look, it is the same cast-on number as two sizes bigger.

So this was my answer to the project.

I am knitting the Medium size and using the extra-small measurements.

It is working perfectly. It sounds tricky but really you just have to make sure you highlight the right numbers in the pattern and it is really a no brainer.

How do you Swatch??

Arlington Gardens - The Secret Garden Revealed!

As the weather is actually turning cold here I am a little saddened that I have just found this garden and didn't get to enjoy it over the summer. You can bet I will be taking advantage of as many sunny days as possible.

The Garden in Located on Pasadena Avenue South of Huntington Hospital. It was one of the Caltrans Properties that would have been used if the freeway extension had gone in.

The city leases the property from Caltrans and asked a local couple to spear head what to do with the property. Thus the garden was started and built by many volunteers. It is a wonderful jewel and I hope you all come buy sometime and enjoy it.

Here is the official Website