On The Needles

Off The Needles

Rivel Cardigan

I think I have a major front band shortage.

She hasn't tried it on yet but I think the front is going to pull way up when it's on the body.

Have you ever ripped back after you have blocked something?

Is it going to be a night mare?

I thought I followed the pattern of pick up 3 stitched within 4 rows.

Maybe I didn't.

How do you really know when you have enough stitches to make the band fit correctly?

I do love the elbow length sleeves.

Greta Vest got quite a bit of attention this week.

I knitted a few rows each night.

After Denise showed off her vest,

I am really anxious to finish mine.

We have an event March 8th,

I wonder......

See other fabulous On The Needle Projects

at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

I started teaching Jessie to lay in my lap while I knit.

He did pretty good.

Only a couple times he tried to paw the Greta Vest.

Several more rows were knit during his training.

We'll try again today.

After he got bored with his training, 

he went to his blanket to sleep some more.

I picked up the Rivel Cardigan and finally started seaming it together.

Sleeves go in today.

Then the "fun" part, the front/neck band.

See other fabulous On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

Sometimes I think the Rival Cardigan will never be finished! I had such good intentions last Friday and had planned to have these sleeves ready to sew in. Nope, did not happen. I got caught up stitching on my Grandmother's Flower Garden instead and only spent a couple evenings knitting.

These are the longest short sleeves. I've only knit a couple rows past the decrease for the cap, these will go right at the elbow. My plan for this morning is to stay in my jammies and watch a couple of my DVR'd shows and knit. That's all I'm planning for this sweater this week. Just this morning....... Maybe that will cause some magic to happen. With my luck all that will happen is someone will show up in an hour or two and catch me in my jammies.  LOL

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

Off the needles this week are the fronts for the Rivel Cardigan! 

WhooHoo!!

This proves what a slow knitter I am.

I thought it would take just a little bit to get these finished,

it took 2 evenings of about 2 hours each night.

The cables take me so long.

I am done with cables for a while.

Wednesday night I cast on for the sleeves,

knit a few rows then went to bed.

Last night I started the body of the sleeve.

With these being short sleeves, 

I'm hoping to show you the front band progress next week.

Again, wish me luck.

I spent the weekend with 4 Grandkiddos 

and needed to take something to work on.

I wanted to mark the second skein with where I started on the first,

I pulled and pulled and pulled and still have not found this section.

I guess if I don't find it soon (before I forget what it is),

I'll just unwind it and start at the beginning and have fun, unmatched socks.

The coloring reminds me of Easter eggs.

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

I love Judy L's sweater!

On The Needles

 My first knitting finish of 2014! Celebrate!!  I started these socks in June to take to my Wednesday group. They were knit on here and there but mostly not. When Ernie had his surgery in November and I grabbed these to work on while I waited. Then I put them away again. The other day I pulled out the Rivel Cardigan to focus on and absolutely could not concentrate on it. So out come the socks.

This yarn is Patons Kroy Sock--color is Fern Rose Jacquard.

Last week, one of the On The Needles posts was from Dora Quilts. She mentioned Norwegian Purl. I had never heard of that so I Googled it and spent some time Friday learning how to do it. It come in handy on the socks. You really can teach an old dog........

Now I need to cast on another pair of socks. My To Go bag is empty.  Which yarn will I pick???

Next I decided to focus on the Rivel Cardigan and get busy! This is an overdue birthday present and I feel bad about that. Especially since she picked the pattern and the yarn!  I just need to sit down with some quiet and concentrate. In no time it all came back. The bust has been shaped and I'm now working toward the shoulder. I moved the lifeline up yesterday morning so I made some progress last night.  Cross your fingers and wish me luck. I'd love to be able to show you the sleeves next Friday or at least the progress on the sleeves.

See other great projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

I apologize to the knitter that posted in her On The Needles post about the Bun Hat. I wanted to give her credit for sharing this quick, easy pattern, but I lost my note.  I knit this one up before Thanksgiving to try on the boys and to see if they would like it. Elliot liked it but it's green and not blue so I should give it to Jonah and make him a blue one.  I love that boy!!!  So I will. When I see Jonah, I will give him this hat. I will make Elliot a blue one and Leland wants one that is green with black and blue like his coat.  With them telling me the colors they want, I can't go wrong!

I'll have to do some size adjusting for Leland.  This one was made with 2 worsted weight yarns together on a size 10 needle. I followed the pattern for the small size. It fits Elliot who is 7 but covered 4 year old Leland's eyes.  Some adjusting will be done.

Still on the needles is the lovely Rival Cardigan. A few stitches here and there but not a whole lot of progress.

I'm fighting with myself to not start the Swing Cowl that Denise showed the other day. I am going to take my Dreambird apart and use that yarn for the Swing Cowl......I don't like it and there are too many mistakes that I can see. Maybe another time I will make it but not for a while.

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Still On The Needles

Still on the needles are the fronts for the Rivel Cardigan!  

Still!  

I have lost my knitting mojo. 

I don't know where to start looking...

maybe I'll try finding it in the knitting bag. 

I'll pick up the bag, 

open it up, 

take out the needles full of fronts 

and the yarn

 and just hold it. 

Maybe I'll put a needle in each hand

 and make a few moves to see if I can create some stitches.  

This is a sad, sad way to feel.  

Maybe I need to do something about this.

This morning I will knit and 

catch up on 2 episodes of Parenthood.

Yes, that is what I will do!

But first, I'm headed over to Patchwork Times to see other fabulous needle projects.

On The Needles

This week I had some good sock knitting time. But not for a good reason. My darling husband had gall bladder surgery on Monday. He had a Wednesday appointment with the surgeon but after a weekend of pain, we changed it to Monday morning and the surgeon had time that afternoon to get it done! He is feeling great now. In fact so great that today he is riding around in the woods with his hunting partner.

 I am so glad I grabbed my to go bag!! I think from now on, my mp3 player will live in my to go bag, I needed something to drown out the people in the waiting room of the hospital. What a bunch of inconsiderate people! No one cared that there were people worried about their loved ones, 2 big groups thought it was a party room........ Anyhow, thank goodness I had my socks. Now I need to stitch up the toe and call #1 done.

I am now to the shoulder shaping of the Rivel Cardigan. I learned the value of the lifeline this week. I also reinforced knowing not to work on something when I am exhausted.  But I am now back on track and ready to get these fronts finished!

On The Needles

I haven't had much working on sock time-my go project. That is until I spent several hours in the waiting room while Ernie chatted it up with Doctors and Nurses in the ER. He is fine now, but it was a little scary for me (and him) because the man never complains about anything so when he did, I knew it was serious.

I've started the bust shaping on the Rivel Cardigan. I've been working a little bit on this most evenings this week. Maybe next week there will be shoulder shaping or better yet, there will be sleeves on the needles.

To see what other fabulous projects are on the needles, check out Patchwork Times.  I love what Judy L is working on but I am starting any more projects, although the shawl in is my Ravelry favorites!

On The Needles

A few more rows have been added to the Rivel Cardigan.

Here is a poor picture of my sock.

Sally Kitty hooked her sharp little claw into it.

I've tried pulling and picking but I can't get anymore yarn back into the row.

I think now I will just weave the yarn in and continue to wear it.

No big deal, right???

See great On The Needle projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

With some things, I am kind of a creature of habit. With others, not so much. I like to have my Friday blog posts published on Friday. This week Friday post was interrupted by parents that needed a vacation and Gramma was a willing babysitter--I don't like the term babysitter--I was being their Gramma. I stayed with them and did Gramma stuff.  Just like today while Aunt DeeDee is there doing Aunt DeeDee stuff. We are their people, not their babysitters. Make sense? Or does it only make sense to me. Anyhow, Mom and Dad are having a blast with their friends in Vegas and they know the kiddos are safe and being well cared for and of course, having a blast.

I stayed the night Thursday as Mom and Dad had a very early flight. I watched Dad play a crazy video game while I made the heal and gusset for my sock.  This poor sock has been sitting lonely since the beginning of July.  It's OK, it's my grab and go sock. No thinking, just knitting. I think now I'll work on it more because it sure is a happy sock.

I spent some evening time working on Rivel Cardigan. I wonder if I spent as much time knitting as I did unknitting.  I got off on one of the cables and I'm not brave enough to just drop those few stitches and then pull them back up so I unknit 6 rows on one front and then got caught back up.  Then I only worked on one side, completely forgetting the other for a few rows, then picked that side up and couldn't figure out why I wasn't working the same pattern on each side........Someone was way too tired to be working on this!

Now it's all good again and I am paying more attention.  I'm almost to the bust shaping step so I better pay close attention, ifyaknowwhatImean!!!

I can't wait to see what everyone else shared at On The Needles this week at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

I've finally started the fronts for the Rivel Cardigan. They are so skinny and so I keep checking to be sure I'm not making a mistake. The front bands are quite wide so I'll just keep following the directions. I love that I am doing these V cables and keep showing Ernie and making him say good job. I wish he would stop rolling his eyes when he says it though.

Last night I worked on this for a long time-I'm so slow-and this morning I woke up to achy finger joints.  So out comes the pain relieving cream and I'll smell like my Gramma all day long. Which I rather enjoy but some people think that Eau de BenGay is kind of stinky.

See other great On The Needle projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

Some weeks are sewing weeks, some are knitting weeks.  This week was sewing, I worked on this and this and not much knitting. I didn't pick up my Dreambird project once.

When I did knit, I worked on the Rivel Cardigan. I am now at the short rows for the shoulder and need it to be quiet so I can concentrate or I will be doing what I did one evening this week.

Unknitting is not fun!  I somehow messed up the cable section and didn't notice it until I was back at it to do the next right side row.

I am not confident enough to just pull the needles out on this one so it was unknit one stitch at a time. And total confusion on my part at the cables.  I sniveled and whined until I was ready to knit again.  Maybe I should have just wined...........but we are moving forward again. Stay tuned for more progress.

See other fabulous On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

Not much knitting has been happening around here.

I have been working on Dreambird a little-very little.

I am ready to start the next feather.

Dreambird has been put on hold while I work on Crystal's Rivel Cardigan.

I am now ready to shape the armholes. 

I knew I shouldn't be working on two big (for me) projects at the same time.

I have been able to sit and sew again for longer periods of time,

so that's where I have been and knitting time has been cut down. 

See other great On The Needles projects at Patchwork Times.

Goodbye August!

It's been a long month for me. I've spent a good share of my time in the recliner with an ice bag on my knee. I've had the pity party more than once. But now that I'm healing and following doctor's orders pretty much, I'm doing better and getting around.

Instead of writing up a bunch of posts for my linking ups, I'm following Teresa's lead and writing one long post and linking to where I want them to go.

 

This is a rerun photo of my hexies.

I am making serious progress on this quilt and love it more each day.

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

and I'm thinking of Kathy as she hurts from the loss of her brother.

 

I spent some precious sewing machine time making scrappy red blocks for my Row Quilt.

I didn't get the Dresden Block made but I will.

I'm linking this to SoScrappy's Scraphappy Saturday.

 

Of course I had to start a new project!

These are 4 of 7 blocks for Nabby's Dowry.

You can find all the info here at Heartspun Quilts.

I'm using 1 1/2" HSTs from my overfull little bin..

  

Hubby came home the other day and wondered if I had a baby boy quilt.

One of his work buddies has his first baby.

Ummm, if I had know before hand, I might have had this ready to go.

So new project number 2 was started.

I'm about halfway and hope to have it ready for gifting this week.

  

Not much progress on Crystal's Rivel Cardigan,

but I am a lot farther than I thought I would be.

 

Here is Dreambird.

I am into the next black section now.

This is a knit along with Judy L and Denise.

The Getting It Done Challenge was kind of a bust for me for August.

August Goals

• Judy L's mystery step for the month
• 5 more Pineapple Crazy blocks
• Bind Ocra Bay and TUSQLJ
• Quilt 1 UFO quilt
• Work on Reach For The Stars
• Work on Grandmother's Choice blocks

The only thing that was accomplished was I finished one Grandmother's Choice block. I didn't even take a picture of it. I did sort my fabrics for Pineapple Crazy into 2 larger bins...one for colors, one for backgrounds, hoping it will be easier to dig for the right piece of fabric and the mess will be a bit more contained.
Kind of a sad, sad month!! It make September's list pretty easy since I'm going to remove a couple of projects from the list.

September Goals

•  Judy L's mystery for August and September
• Bind Orca Bay 
• Bind TUSQLJ
• Make Rainbow Scrap blocks for August and September
• Sew every day

I'm linking this up to Judy L's Getting it Done-September post.

I think these are achievable for me. And since September is National Sewing Month, I am again going to try to sew every day.   Even if I can only sit and sew for a few minutes at a time. 

On The Needles

I've been spending most evenings working on the Rivel Cardigan. I am ready to attach ball #3. I love the V cables that go up the center back. The yarn is so soft and is really nice to work with.

I've also knit a few more rows on Hitchhiker. If you look look at last week's OTN post, the shawl looks the same, the cardigan, not so much. Progress is very noticeable.

These will be put on the back burner for a bit while Dreambird gets going. Today I am going to make a chart like Denise did here. I am a mark off row by row and clicker user. Denise shows a fabulous chart that will be perfect for me. Or confuse me beyond belief! LOL

See other fabulous needle projects at Patchwork Times.

On The Needles

I'm working on Hitchhiker again. I had to unknit 2 rows because instead of binding off 5, I chose to bind of 10. I don't know why I do stuff like that. I was able to go to my sewing group on Wednesday for a couple hours (and boy did I need some friend time) and took this with me to work on. Easy to chat and unknit with friendly encouragement. It wasn't long until I had those 2 rows like they should be and few more added.

I've started Rivel Cardigan. I'm getting comfortable with the cables. This yarn, City Tweed from Knit Picks, is so yummy to work with. I am hoping by the time this is finished, I will be comfortable with purling. I knit continental style and can breeze through the knit stitches but the purls, not so much. I watched a good you tube video so I'm hoping I can pick up the pace a bit.

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times. Can't wait to see Camp Loopy progress reports.  Someday I'll go to camp, maybe.