Christmas is on it's way

It's good to have friends that work in yarn departments. The girl who works in the yard department at the Hobby Lobby where I teach, showed me some new stuff. It wasn't even marked yet. In fact she was holding it in one of the boxes to be put out for me.

See me and her had been discussing some things I wanted to make as gifts for Christmas and when this yarn came in she held it for me. SWEEEEETTTT!

The red, beige and green will be wash clothes and hand towels that will be given with a long with a handmade bar of soap. (closer to Christmas I'll have pictures) I all ready have one washcloth made. LOL. You can see the beginning of it with the first ball of cotton up at the top. By the way I'm using blocks from the 200 Knitted Blocks book for my washcloths. That is one of the handiest books I have for quick ideas and patterns. I love it.

Now I have to decided what to make with the green and beige. I got that just because I loved the color. LOL.

Sad news, once again I have frogged the Black Purl sock. For some reason this damn sock is driving me nuts. I do believe though that I have found a pattern that will show the yarn off and still be fun to make. Not too complicated, easy to memorize and yet classy. Cross your fingers for me.

Just when I posted things were going good, things got crazy again. Ok stop laughing I can hear you. I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about. (it is a little funny) Seriously though I almost lost my new pup. You can read about on Gunther's blog. Gunther. And if that wasn't bad enough, one of the thorns in my flesh from earlier this year has raised "it's" head and started stirring again. But, it's all good, a pain in the butt, but it's still ok, because it's nothing compared to what the kids and I faced at the beginning of the year. And that just brought out the best in us. I will say that it is truly a shame that people take forgiveness as weakness.

Knitting again, has brought so much peace into my life. It has also brought some of the nicest woman you will ever meet. I can't imagine my life without them. They are such a precious gift. I am grateful for each of you.

Blessed Be

YO Scarf Pattern

YO Scarf

Materials: Size US10 needles
Yarn: 262 yards of thin Ribbon Yarn (I used Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee, Topkapi, in Tarsus)

Directions:

Cast On 17 loosely

Rows 1-10: Knit

Row 11: Knit 1 [YO 3 times, K1], continue across.
Row 12: K1, [drop 3 YOs from previous row, K1] continue across.
Row 13-14: Knit
Row 15: K1, [YO 2 times, K1], continue across.
Row 16: K1, [drop 2 YOs from previous row, K1] continue across.
Row 17-18 Knit
Repeat Rows 11-18 until desired length.
Knit 8 Rows
Bind Off loosely.

Hope you enjoy!

Update: please email me if you find a problem with the pattern. So far my students haven't but, typing it out I may have missed something in spite of the 10 times i read it over. ;-)

Knitting, Dog Shows and other stuff

It's true, I haven't fallen off the end of the earth yet. This year has been something else so far, but I can say that finally life is beginning to be much happier. Though I'm twice as busy, I am happy and getting some knitting done, and going to dog shows and taking charge of areas of my life that I had let slack or thought was ok.

Anyway, I've got some projects going on. The yarn below is Kid Merino from Crystal Palace. It's for a shawl that I'm making for my daughter. The shawl is called Milady's Shawl, designed by Dee Jones for Alpine Meadow Yarns.


A little while back I was not really intending on buying any yarn I was just looking and there on Handpainted Yarn's website were these two beautiful lace weight yarns. They just somehow got into my cart and ended up in my mailbox. LOL.

And here is what I'm making. It's a variation of the Feather and Fan shawl. It's hard to see because of the wood background. But when it's finished I'll take a much better picture for you. We've been joking around about how these are the very colors of my new pup, T.

Details and a better idea of the colors.

You know I can't let this one go. LOL. Today is Gunther's 2nd birthday. Him and T have celebrate all day. We've been to PetCo, Starbucks and Petsmart. It's been a big day. I'll have more pictures tomorrow on Gunther's blog. Gunther, GT and I just got back on Saturday from a dog show in Greenville, SC. We have a great time inspite of my mistake. LOL.

It really feels good to be in a place in my life where I am feeling centered again. Where most of the people who made my life a living hell the first part of the year are long gone and dealt with. It's been an interesting spiritual ride, many lessons reviewed and new ones learned. But I'm just grateful for today. Grateful is such an overlooked feeling. It can be the entrance to such peace.