Snow Day! (Part II)

Well we had another day off today. The ice is so bad that even if I had to go to work it would have been difficult as three roads around us were blocked off. The neighborhood I live in is built on a hill. We live on top of the hill but our house is sits down a hill with a backyard that flattens out. If you go farther back behind our house the hill continues. Because of this I always park in the street when we have inclement weather. Our driveway is still impassable as I found out today when I was outside.


I went out today with the camera to see if I could take some good pictures of the ice. It was great being outside. The air is so crisp and clean that it invigorates.







A funny thing happened last night. I went into the craft room to put up some needles and staring at me was the Lopi sweater. I brought it back into the den with me and realized how much I'd actually knitted. I started on it right then and there and now I've added the sleeves. I forgot to order an extra skein because I always have to lenghten the sleeves so I'll probably run short. I got my yarn from Webs and the color I need is on backorder so I'm seriously hoping that I don't have to wait too long to find it. If this gets packed up again there's no telling when it will get finished.


After a two hour daily in the morning it's back to work as usual. I've really enjoyed this long weekend and now it's time to find out how or if we have to make the time up. Once again if you have to be out in this and all the other messes stay safe.

A Change in Plans

I've snuck in a few Christmas gifts of the knitted hat form this month. Yesterday I finished the Caramel Cable Hat for my hairdresser Judy. Here it is modeled my my friend and co-worker Tammy.




Specs:

Pattern: Caramel Cable Hat
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Pitch Black (leftover from the Mars Hat & Scarf)
Needles: 4 US & 6 US addi Turbo 16-inch needles.
Size: Medium
Started: December 16, 2010 Finished: December 17, 2010

Modifications: I deleted a full 18-stitch repeat to make the smaller size. This is one of the worst patterns I've ever used. It is supposed to be translated to English from German but it is actually a mash up of both languages. If you read charts this will solve most of the problems as this is what I used. I'm glad it was a free pattern. The hat is lovely but I would no recommend this pattern for beginners.

Christmas hat #2 is the Brambles Beret from the Deep Fall 2010 issue of Knitty. My co-worker Tammy admires most of the hats I wear, particularly the beret style, so I'm making one for her. This is another hat that I liked as soon as I saw it and made plans to knit. I'm knitting from the large stash of Cascade 220 so it is more than likely that this pattern will make another appearance.

I've cast on the body of my Brigitte cardigan. I can't wait to be finished with the first bit of colorwor so that I can sail through the stockinette portion. I've completed both sleeves so chances are good that this will be finished for the new year.

In the meantime, I'm sitting here wishing for a white Christmas realizing that the chances are slim and none. It's been snowing in Charlotte which isn't all that far away but it would be great to have snow day. To all of you who are currently experiencing these snow storms, here's hoping that you stay safe and warm.

I'm Hooked

When I learn something new I tend to jump in with both feet and so it has been with the jewelry making. I purchased a book from Joann's which exposes you to a lot of different jewelry making techniques. Yesterday I started a bracelet using jump rings. I couldn't start with the beginner's bracelet I had to jump to the next level. The pattern suggested using 3 different color jump rings to be able to better see what you are doing, but I knew I wouldn't get much use out of a multicolored bracelet so I opted to use silver only. After struggling a bit yesterday, I found my stride today and found a system that worked for me and finished it this afternoon.



I may need to remove one set of links but I'll leave it as is for now.

Earlier this year when Web's had their anniversary sale I bought enough Reynolds Lopi and Lite Lopi to make 3 sweaters. On Friday I cast on for the first of the three. The pattern is Brigitte from The Best of Lopi. I've had this book for several years and long ago picked out what I might like to make from it. This year I decided to try and knit at least one thing from most of the books I own instead of just buying them and putting them on the shelf.

I started out small and thus far I've finished the first sleeve.


If I manage to finish this before the end of the year this will be only my second completed adult sweater this year. I'm hoping that the fact that this is a bulky yarn means it will work up faster. It is super cold here for this time of year and the perfect weather for wearing this type of sweater.

We had the nephews this weekend. We went shopping Saturday and during our stop at Michael's I took Isaiah to the yarn section so that he could pick out his Carolina Gamecock colors. Since then he has worried me repeatedly about when am I going to start on his things. I finally got him to stop asking by measuring his head. The colors are garnet, black and white so I'm going with a basic striped hat and scarf with garnet and black mittens. It isn't a Christmas gift but based on what he wore to our house this weekend it is something that I need to get started on soon.

Time to get ready for another day and find something warm to brave these cold morning temps. Have a good one and holler at you later.