State Fair '09

Usually by this time I've posted the news about the State Fair. The Palmetto Purlers, my knitting guild, gave their demo on the first day which was Wednesday the October 14th. Earlier that day the results of the competitions were finally posted. I won two blue ribbons, two red ribbons and the sweepstakes.



Blue ribbon for Vine and Lace Beret and Blue Ribbon and Sweepstakes for Vilai socks.


Red ribbons, Second Place, for Noro Silk Garden Shawl and Belted Wrap Jacket.

This marks the third time I have won the Sweepstakes and each time it has been in a different category.

My knitting has been all over the place. I finally finished the Aestlight Shawl.


Specs:
Name: Aesthlight by the Shetland Trader (Gudrun Johnston)
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Fingering (2.25 skeins out of 4)
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace 6 US
Started: August 14, 2009 Finished: October 13, 2009

I started this in August and got tripped up on the eyelet section. I put it down and picked it back up in October. I frogged what was already done and had no problems at all completing the eyelet section this time and zoomed right through to the finish. This is an excellently written pattern and I highly recommend it.


On Friday I started a pair of Knotty Gloves for Mrs. Rainey our family friend in Maryland who we visited in September. I'm knitting from a large cone of Henry's Attic Tennessee which is a sportweight superwash merino. It feels fantastic and the gloves are looking great. I'm toying with the idea of dyeing them once they are finished.

Today I picked most of the remaining tomatoes. The majority of them are still green so I'm going to put them in a brown paper bag to ripen. I still have quite a few remaining on the plants as well as several bell peppers. I hope that the coming frost will kill the plants so that I can begin to clean out the area.



I'm focusing most of my knitting time on gifts with the exception of some fingerless gloves for mom. Her hands and wrist have been hurting lately and they get worse as the weather cools down. I may also make some for my brothers time permitting. I have the beads and am impatiently awaiting the arrival of the braid to make several beaded bracelets. I've completed two kits I purchased from earthfaire and love the way the look.

That's it for the updates. I'm heading back to the needles to work on the gloves.

Silk Garden Sock Triangular Shawl

Sometimes you just have to believe.

I was not at all convinced that I liked the color of this shawl while I was knitting it. There is a gray stripe between the blue rows and the colors are deeper than they appear in the picture. It is a beautiful shawl and warm. I tested it in my office on Friday when I took it to work to show it off.




Specs:
Pattern: Based on charts from Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock color S8
Needles: 6 Addi Turbo Lace
Started: July 28, 2009 Finished: August 6, 2009

I could see myself knitting a lot of shawls based on this book. All the patterns are very straight forward and the directions excellent. I love the size of this shawl but plan on making several smaller ones. I used most of the 3 skeins of the Silk Garden Sock I purchased and could have easily stopped at 2 - 2.5. I have 3 skeins in another color which I also plan to use for a shawl.

Knit Inn

WooHoo! I had a great time at the SC Knitting Guild's annual Knit Inn in Greenville, SC. Even though I didn't get in any of my classes I had a great time hanging out with knitting friends from previous years and making new friends. There was close to 200 women in attendance including Lynn from Minnesota who used to live in Columbia. I got to hang out with knit buds Lou and Lori from the Rock Hill area, saw Teresa aka Yargineer with her sweet little man, Deborah and Gail and a host of other knitters.

In the evenings we went to dinner with little bro' Byron and I must recommend City Range. The food was delicious and the service quick and excellent. We also hit PF Changs a usual stop for us on the knitting weekend.

I didn't make many purchases this year. I bought sock yarn and one beaded scarf kit from the vendors on site, Yes Yarn and Northwood Fiber and Farm. I was looking forward to purchasing some hand-dyedfrom Teri at Northwood, but sadly she didn't have any available.


I finished two sweaters. I finally got the buttons sewn on Mr. Greenjeans.


Specs:
Pattern: Mr. Greenjeans by Amy Swenson - Knitty Fall 2007
Yarn: Noro Silver Thaw 12
Needles: 7 & 8 Holtz & Stein circulars
Size: Large
Started: November 22, 2008 Finished: February 6, 2009

I made the sweater much longer than the pattern called for. I also extended the buttons a little further above the vee since the placement wasn't all that flattering on me and made the sleeves long. The sweater was finished for almost a full 2 months before I ordered the woolwash and blocked it. I've worn it and it is very warm and comfortable.

Seamed the Belted Wrap Jacket.




Specs:
Pattern: Belted Wrap Jacket by Shirley Paden - Interweave Knits Winter 2005
Yarn: Tebe Extrafine Merino by Filati Italian Collection
Needles: 6 & 7 Holtz & Stein circulars
Size: XL
Started: November 2007 Finished: February 7, 2009

I completed the back in November '07 and it rested until October '08. I had all the pieces completed in November '08 and didn't pick it up again until I blocked it the end of January '09. It was a pleasure to knit and I plan to make it again in a cranberry color using the same yarn.

I also started knitting one of the Kureyon sock skeins. I'm knitting a pair of plain toe-up socks for mom. The colors are a little funky but I'm going to match them as much as I can. My original plan was to knit it as it was skeined until I realized that I could match most of the repeats. I have enough to match the foot and leg but not the ribbing which will be hidden anyway.


There was a big surprise waiting for me when I got home today.


I ordered some Kauni and undyed Trekking from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions on Jan. 30th. I was expecting it to take a few weeks and the package arrived today. I'm waiting on a shipment of the Rainbow Kauni from a stateside store. It's currently backordered but when it arrives I'll be making the famous Kauni sweater in the rainbow and/or the pastel I ordered from Astrid.

I recently subscribed to Knitcircus magazine after seeing the Rosepole design by Elizabeth Morrison in Kauni Effektgarn. The jury is out as to which color I'll use. So big plans ahead with lots of finer gauge knitting. In the meantime I'll be finishing and clearing out other projects to make room for the new stash.

Awards All Around

I haven't been blogging much so I was a bit taken aback when Melodye surprised me with this.


In turn I am nominating the following blogs:
1.Cici
2.Kathy
3.Theresa
4.Vera
5.Deborah
6.Acornbud
7.Monica

Here are the rules for the nominees: 1. Copy the award to your site. 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award. 3. Nominate 7 other bloggers. 4. Link to those on your blog. 5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

I finally took a picture of Mr. Greenjeans sans blocking and buttons. It has been finished since before Christmas but I didn't have any woolwash to soak and block it. I ordered some a few days ago so I should have an FO sometime next week. This color is really hard to photograph so I am unable to get a picture with the true color of the sweater.


Last night I cast on Viveca from Book Twelve: The Walk in the Park Collection by Elsebeth Lavold. I'm subbing Debbie Bliss Merino Aran from the stash for the Silky Cashmere. The drape will be significantly different but it should a very warm sweater.

Sweater Work

Hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. We had a great time here at Chez Morris. The only person missing was my youngest brother who had to work for the first time on Thanksgiving. We all missed him. Mom and I spent the day cooking and the food was wonderful even if I must say so myself.

This is one of the few holidays when all five kids are home. Almost all the nieces and nephews were at the house. It was the usual family fun; eating, games and more eating.

I started on Mr Greenjeans last weekend. This color of Silver Thaw photographs with a lot of blue, but in person the colors are a lot different. The blue isn't as prominent and the shade of blue is different. The greys and purple show up as well as the yellow and hint of green. I didn't like the colors at all at first but they have begun to grow on me.


I've finished the body and most of the first sleeve over the long weekend. The sleeve is a little snug. I'm knitting the large as I think the 1X would be a little large. I'll have to see how it fits over this belly I've acquired over the past several months.


For the first time I haven't committed to any Christmas knitting. I have two scarf and hat sets that I would like to make for family friends who will be in the area during the holidays. I'm still searching through stitch dictionaries and patterns. I haven't set a time frame so that if they are done I'll just stick them in the mail. It feels great not to have that pressure even if I did enjoy making the gifts. I usually find the holiday season to be stressful, but this year I'm relaxed, most of the shopping is done and the plans are made.

I'm still practicing project monogamy. This sweater will be completed before I cast on the next project. There are several wips in the basket that were started way prior to this but I'm just not in the mood to tackle them. I'd like to get some cold weather knitting under my belt before I go back to them.

The next sweater will probably be a Noro sweater for mom. I'd like to get the new Noro purchases knitted up in case I need to purchase more. Since they are clearance yarns I'd be hard pressed to locate more if they go to marinate in the stash. It'll be a cardigan for sure.