Here is the last of the sale purchases. Opal Crocodile Farbe 8 Partie 23, Opal Inspiration Farbe 5023 Partie 02, and Regia Farbe 5271 Partie 39588. Though the two skeins of Regia look slightly different, they actually are the same. I think it must be the way they were lying when I took the picture that makes the one on the right look like it has less of the magenta in it.

I know, I know, I really didn't need any more sock yarn but I couldn't resist. I know I'll be using it as I always need a small project to carry around when sweaters get too bulky.

I currently have the one Gansey and matching Seaman's Cap finished so that is one gift done. Now, I'm working on another gift Gansey... The Cat one.... and I have a pair of socks I need to finish. The main worry will be the Gansey as they take much longer for me to do than the socks.

This weekend, work was....... work. I now have 3 days off to enjoy. Hurray!!!!!

As always, keep those suggestions coming! The more the merrier!

Now for the yarn for the purple St. Moritz 2003 Dale sweater. The only change I am making is that I am switching the offwhite and the black so that the motif is in black and the shoulder area is going to be in the offwhite. There's no black in the yarn you see because they were out. Unfortunately for me, the sale started on Monday and I worked both Monday and Tuesday and wasn't able to get to the store till Wednesday.

Okay, now for size decisions! Again, I have a 39 inch chest and it looks like I'll either need to make the XS size which is 44 1/8" or 45 5/8". Using the suggestion to measure a comfortable top, I'm getting between 42 and 43". Looks like I might need to make the XS size. I'll measure other tops that I have... maybe a sweat shirt that I like the fit of, to get another angle on this. I sure wish the sizing was easier to figure out. I would hate to get the sweater finished or near finished and find that it doesn't fit.

I'm still working on the Cat Gansey. Not very exciting right now as it's just the stockinette stitch which is why I've not taken any pictures of it recently.

Please send some good thoughts my direction as I'll be working this weekend!

Please send your comments in which size you think I should make! I need all the help I can get!! heeheheh

Here is the yarn that I got for Dale's 6009 Hovedoen. Again, what size should I make? With my 39 inch chest, would it be better to have the medium finished size of 41 3/8" or the large at 43 3/4" ???









I took a close up of the yarn so you could see the dark purple better since it didn't show up well in the other one. I actually debated on doing this sweater with blues instead of the purples but these colors just spoke to me. hehehe

Tomorrow.... more of my yarn purchase!

Sales are wonderful even if they are only 15% off. ::grin::

Here is the yarn for Kongle. Dale #6022. The yarn is Tiur and the colors are magenta, dusty rose, black and the background is going to be off white. Unfortunately, they were out of the off white so I won't get the 15% off on it but I'll get 10% for being a member of the Knitter's Guild. I love jewel tones. This also will be a different yarn for me as it has a bit of mohair in it to make it slightly fuzzy. It's still very soft to touch, though, which is always a big requirement for me.

Now, the decision will be... what size to make. I need mega help here so hope to get some comments with suggestions on what size to make. I have a 39 inch chest. The finished chest measurments are: XS=39 3/8", S=41 3/4", M=44 1/2". I'm not planning on wearing anything like another shirt under the sweater. We don't get cold enough here to require that type of layering so I just need to know what the heck size I should make.

HELP! All comments and suggestions appreciated!

Don't worry. I bought other things but thought I would just post this one to start off today.

I made it through another day at work. Wheeeeeee.

Not super exciting but here is the start of the ribbing of the Cat Gansey. I"m using a single 3.25mm, 60cm Addi Turbo needle and it's working well. The other gansey, I used the two circular method. We'll see how this works out as I don't want to put a huge strain on the cable when I switch to the 3.75mm needles and the sweater starts to get heavier.

Okay... I'm going to treat myself to a row or two of knitting before bed. Night, everyone!!!

The trash is out, my shoes are off and I'm now relaxing for the rest of the evening.

I finally got my head straight about the cat for the Gansey! Vic was right... the chubby cat of the pattern would have turned into a real fat cat in the pattern due to the stitch difference. I had my thinking totally backwards. I worked on the pattern and I now have a nice skinny kitty so things will work out just fine. I've started knitting the gansey but only have 7 rows of the ribbing done so far. Not much to take a picture of. hehehe

On the picture front, here is one of a pair of socks in Anne yarn again. Nice Teal green with very subtle lighter shades in it. This is a wonderfully soft yarn that is failry fine. It easily could be used for light weight shawls.

For those who know how work has been for me lately, Yes, I'm dreading going to work on Monday. It's a job and it pays the bills. At least I get to come home to my knitting. If I get a bunch done on the ribbing tonight and when I get home tomorrow, I'll try showing a picture of the ribbing of the gansey.

Back to relaxing and knitting!

I have a headache.

Imagine being at work and hearing the entire staff basically being told... Smiles, everyone. Smiles! Better known as moral is in the basement and heading toward the sub-basement and administration is trying to make us feel something that we can't.

The part about having a headache is real so no knitting as I'm going to head straight off to bed in just a few minutes.

As for the Cat pattern for the Gansey... yes, the cat will be taller when knit as my gauge for the sweater is 6 stitches by 8 rows whereas the pattern below has the same number or squares vertically as it does horozontally. I wonder how the cat will look done in Moss stitch. HHuummm

Keep the suggestions coming!!

I've had a nice, busy day today. I started by typing up the directions for the Gansey sweater from all the different pieces of paper with scribbled notes all over them. Then I made some changes in the pattern... actually, I just added the changes to the main pattern directions as I also wanted to make the body 2 inches shorter and, correspondingly, the sleeves 2 inches shorter. To do this, I had to do some minor math but I think I got it all figured out........ I hope. heheheheeh

After all that typing and eating lunch, I started working on the chest motif for the new gansey. The theme is cats. I'm really hoping that it will turn out as well as it looks on paper. Here is the silhouette of the cat for the center of the chest but I need to decide if I want to do the body in seed stitch, or solid purl stitch against a knit background or solid knit stitch against a purl background. Any suggestions??? Please leave a comment!!



Just so there is something new and colorful on the page, here is the first of a pair of socks for myself. Yes, I love bright colors. The yarn is ANNE. I'm working on 2mm (US 0's) on 80 stitches. The gauge is 11 stithes by 13 rows.

I hope I won't be too quiet the next two nights because I will be working. I'll try my best to post something coherent!

Hurray!

Here is my first Seaman's Cap all finished. I know people don't have heads with the angles shown in the picture but I had to find something to hold it up so I could take a picture of it. hehehe I used a roll of paper towels.

I'm anxious to start the next gansey but I want to get a few mice done then I will type up the basic pattern then work on some of the design changes that I want to make in the chest pattern. I'm debating on a few different stitch combinations to see which will look best. Thank heavens for some of the stitch pattern programs. I just hope my design skill is up to the task!

Such a nice relaxing day after a typically lousy weekend at work.

I did have to rip back almost all the Seaman's cap that I had done. Here's a picture of it now. In the pattern, you knit the ribbing for 3 inches then you knit a plain knit round then you knit another inch of ribbing. This makes a fold like but, the more I worked the cap, the more I didn't like the idea that you had to fold the cuff up at that point. I frogged back to that point and just did plain ribbing for 4 inches. Now I'm on the top of the cap and ready to start the decrease rounds. I like this much better as it makes so my friend will be able to make the cuff whatever size he wants. :)

Now, once this cap is finished... Mice need knitting and I need to write up my basic gansey pattern so it will not be scattered through several emails and scribbled notes in the margines of the stitch pattern. hehehe And I need to get to designing the chest pattern on the next gansey.

I already have the yarn for my next gansey. Berella Country Garden DK The Claire Murray Collection. Actually it's Patons Country Garden, just another branch of Spinrite. Very soft, 100% Superwash Merino Wool. The color is called Potato Skin and it really does look like the nice golden brown color of the skin of a potato.

I hope to get the Seaman's cap finished tonight or early tomorrow. I love new projects. Heck, I just plain old love knitting. hehehe

I've been working on the Seaman's cap to go with the Humber Keel Gansey while watching the news on the blackout in the North East of the US and Canada.

Here is what I've done so far and the brim has been rolled up to give a little better idea of how it will look. I haven't started the crown decreases yet. I need to do some calculations to get the decreases right since I'm using DK yarn and the pattern is written for worsted weight. Shouldn't be too difficult The whole Seaman's cap is working up quickly as what you see is what I did in one day.

Today I'll be working more on the cap and I hope to knit a mouse, too. :) Gotta keep the mouse production up so I'll have more than just a handfull to send to Wendy as well as to provide a few for my local feline friends.

Today wasn't very productive when it came to actual knitting.... well, actually it was Wednesday that wasn't very productive. I'm posting this before heading off to bed so it's more than a little late... er... early on Thursday am. :)

I worked on adding the new Works In Progress script from IndiGirl. After many starts and stops and fiddling with the script, sending emails to IndiGirl and a few breaks away from looking at lines of coding, the final problem was found. A simple tag was needed at the very end of her script. Once that little bugger was in place, the script ran wonderfully. I can't take credit for finding the missing piece. That goes to one of my online computer friends who came to my rescue!

I did get a tiny bit of knitting done. :) I sewed the tummy seam of my second mouse and then attempted a top down pattern for a seaman's cap. I found that I was all thumbs with that pattern (Sorry, Flor) and switched to this free pattern for a Seaman's Cap. I'm making adjustments to this pattern since it's written for worsted weight and I'm using DK weight. I'm also doing the large size since this is for a man.

As you can see, no pictures of stuff today. If I get more done on the cap and a few more mice done, I hope to have more pictures to share with you. I know I enjoy seeing everyone's pictures and I love reading comments so please feel free to leave comments here for me.

Hurray!!!! Another two days of work done and now I have 3 days for real life. Dunno what type of errands I will be doing but I'll be working on more mice for the Catnip Mice Charity group and I want to get started on the Seaman's cap to go with the Gansey I finished. I'm thinking that the cap won't take super long to make..... I hope.

Speaking of mice......... ::giggle:: Here is my very first one. Not stuffed yet as I haven't bought any catnip yet. These knit up so quickly! I've already had two local friends reminding me that they have cats, too. hehehe Yes, they are going to get a few mice for their kitties.

Now, I think I'll finish mouse #2 before bed tonight.

I can honestly say that I got something constructive done today other than knitting..... though it is knitting related! ::giggle::

click on picture to enlarge

I had my sock yarn scattered in two different boxes and not packed very neatly so I laid all the skeins out on my bed and I sorted them out into each brand. Once that was all done, I looked and thought.... what a great set of pictures for the blog!!! Also it's a chance to try out a new setting where you can click on the picture of the whole stash to see a larger version of it.

To get better views of the stash, I took some close ups. I loved seeing all the colors and yarns but they needed to be packed away for lack of room to keep them out all the time. ::sigh:: At least my containers are close to clear so I can see some of the skeins when I look at the boxes. :)

Hurray for the weekend!!!!!! No post yesterday. I could bearly think by the time I got home from work. Just one of those days when your mind is turned to burned toast.

Thanks to a suggestion by Flor for taking pictures of stitch detail, here is the much better view of the full Gansey as modeled by my pillow. ::giggle::







Here is a close up of the chest detail.







I really enjoyed knitting the Gansey sweater and I am going to be designing another one that will be in a Gansey-style. I don't think I can call it a true Gansey since it's going to have a Cat theme if I can get the design the way I want it. It's going to be a gift for a local Cat loving friend. I'm excited as well as nervous about attempting my first design like this. I hope it turns out the way it is in my mind.

Okay... Here is the project that I have been working on since May. My very first Gansey sweater!

This is the Humber Keel Gansey pattern. The yarn is Paton's Country Garden 100% merino wool in color 56. It's a bluish green like a Junipur which is the name of the color. I used sizes 3.25mm (US 3) and 3.75mm (US 5) Addi Turbo circulars. The gauge is 6 stitches/inch and 8 rows/inch.

Here is a close up of the chest pattern. The main change that I made was in the very center. The original pattern called for a 6 pointed "starfish" but I changed it to an anchor pattern, keeping with the nautical theme of the sweater.

And here is a close up of the anchor that is in the center of the pattern. Unfortunately, I'm not as good a photographer as the pattern deserves. Either the yarn is too dark or the lighting isn't right but I'm excited to finally have the first of my MidWinter presents finished!

Aaaaahhhhh, the best laid plans of mice and men... er... women. Instead of being home most of the day, I was away almost the entire day. I did take knitting with me, though.

I worked on the socks that are also a present. Got past the heel and am working down toward the toe. The heel I use is one taught to me by Flor. It's a cross between a flap heel and a short row heel. I like it as it's easy to do and fits very nicely.

Now that I'm home, I'll be working on the rest of the cuff on the sweater. Back to work Thursday and Friday but then I have the weekend off. I definitely plan to knit.

Sorry, no pictures today... but I do hope to have a picture of the gansey I have been working on to share with all of you tomorrow. I'm on the ribbing of the last sleeve then I need to sew down the collar and weave in the ends. Then I'll have the turquoise socks to finish... that shouldn't take too long, another gansey to make and a DNA scarf to make for a friend. Then I need to finish the Shapely Tank Top for me as well as the pair of socks I started for myself a while ago.

I've had the DNA scarf pattern from online for quite a while but the new Interweave Knits Fall 2003 magazine has an article on the pattern as well as some variations on it.

Well, I had better head off and get the cuff finished so I can do the finishing work on this sweater tomorrow. Then I can take a picture of it to share with all of you.

Shopping Shopping Shopping !!! Wheeeee, yup, I went shopping today at my Local Yarn Store.

Here's what I bought! On the upper left is Noro Kureyon in color 89 for Booga J's Felted Bag. Upper right is Nature Spun Worsted in color 103 Deep Sea for some really cute catnip mice for the Great Charity Mouse-a-thon. Below that are two new colors of Lorna's Lace sock weight for some future socks. Pinstripe and Bittersweet.

Now, I'm trying to decide if I should spend $100 and buy a Wooly Board or see if I can find a very handy friend who will use the online directions and make me one.

HHuuummmmmmmmmmm I'm gonna need one before too long.

I sure had someone watching out for me this am. It all started Saturday. Got home from work, ate some dinner and chatted online for a bit then headed off to bed to watch the evening news before falling asleep. Well... everything was going just fine till I woke up at 5:24am and realized that I had laid down with the TV on and had fallen asleep and I had forgotten to set the alarm clock!!! I normally get up at 5am for work so I was only 24 minutes behind schedule but it still discombobulated me for most of the day. Guess I was more tired from work than I thought I was. I don't know what woke me up in time to make it to work but I was very thankful.

The good thing..... I now have the next three days off. Life stuff and KNITTING are in my plans.

Now, for a little mundane life... I have to take the trash out then get to settle back and KNIT before going to bed!

Wow, can you believe that it's August already! I thought I was doing well by getting an early start on making my MidWinter presents but now, I'm not too sure! I have about 2/3 of a sleeve to finish to complete the first gansey, then I need to start working on the design for the next one and get started on knitting it.

Here is the project I started today. A pair of socks that will be a MidWinter present. Nice easy project to carry around so I can knit whenever I have a few minutes. I've not used this yarn before. Fortissimi Colori 1000. 75% wool, 25% polyamid. When I started it, I wasn't sure that I liked the way the black was working in with the color bit, as I went, the patterning grew on me.

I will be working my usual 12.5 hour shifts this weekend so probably won't get a whole lot of knitting done. I'll try doing a few rows before bed just because it's so very relaxing, though. I'm probably not the only one who lives for my days off. heeheh Work pays the bills but it sure does interfere with all the fun things that I want to do!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!