New Logo

Hi,

I'd like to thank my talented niece, Sara DeViva, for my new logo!! She is a graphic designer from Philadelphia and you can see her website at saradeviva.com.

THANKS SARA!!! This really has me excited about posting some designs for the new year. I'm in the process of designing some hats and I also have a couple of old designs of sweaters and vests that I will post soon. Very exciting.

Stay tuned! Sue

Aloe Socks

Hey,

Quick socks for me! I was curious about the aloe, the yarn feels nice! I finished them on Saturday. I used a free pattern from the Chic Knits site: 56 x 56. You can download it here. I had some yarn left over so I made a pair of flip flop socks using the same pattern with these adjustments: 4 rows K2, P2 then I completed the heel and knit 7 in, 4 more rows K2,P2 and then just sewed the top tog between the big toe and the other toes. I know everyone wants Flip Flop Socks for Xmas, right? :-)

Take care, Sue

Ribbed Top Finished

Hey,

I just finished my ribbed top and thought I would post some pics. This is from Vogue Knitting Spring 08, designed by Vladimir Teriokhin. I thought the ribbing design would be flattering and I can't believe how great it fits! The yarn is SWTC Pure, which is 100% soy silk and drapes beautifully. I also had a lot of yarn left over from this project. This yarn would make a beautiful shawl.





A more detailed description of this project can be seen on my Ravelry page, id cloudheights.

Next I am going to be taking a class at my LYS on Elizabeth Zimmerman's saddle shoulder cardigan. It include steeking which I've never done before so I'm looking forward to this!!!

Take care, Sue

This is the best I can do for now

So I'm resigned to the fact that I can't get my clouds back in my template so I'm just going to go for generic for a while. I've saved my original template so someday when I can afford a hosting site for a web page I can use it.

take care, Sue

Hey What Happened to My Blog!!

Hi,

I went to my blog today to post and realized all my pictures were gone!!! Then I realized that the place where I've been storing my pics went away. Bummer. That's what happens when you change jobs!! (shhh!)

So I'll be in the process of getting all my buttons back up but in the meantime I'm using this generic template (which isn't so bad really).

What I really need is my own website. That's one of many things on my wishlist including an iphone, a new deck on the back of my house (since I'm daydreaming, make that a four seasons room!), and a $500 gift certificate to Schaefer yarns!

Well I can dream can't I!!!

I wrote a haiku this morning:

Tell me, what is life
when compared to the booming
silence of the soul?

Take care, Sue

Ascii Joni

Here's an oldie but goodie. I keep losing it so I thought I would post it on the blog and get a filed copy. I created this picture many moons ago when I started posting to the Joni Mitchell Discussion list.



Made in the olden days before Photoshop!! :-)

Take care, Sue

Mobius

Hey,

I know I've been neglectful but since "RAVELRY" I spend more time there than here. Something very great about ravelry is that you can actually talk to the designer of the sweater you are working on. I've been a subscriber to Vogue Knitting since 1986 and I've always loved the designs of Norah Gaughan. Her very first design for Vogue Knitting, if I am correct, is the sleeveless tank in the VK Spring '87. So I recently bought her Berroco Vol 2 with some beautiful designs for spring. I had some green Berroco Bonsai in my stash from last year so I decided to make "Mobius" pictured below:



I really enjoyed knitting this sweater. Never really put it down till I was done, and I spent 5 hours last Saturday morning doing the finishing. I was being very finicky for me, especially on the collar, which I really wanted to fall right. Here are the results:


So I posted my finished pictures at the Norah Gaughan fans forum on Ravelry and Norah commented back that she thought I did a good job!!! How cool is that? I'm not sure how much designers, artists, poets, musicians, writers, and all other creative people understand how much their art adds to people's lives. Beauty shared is one of my favorite parts of life. Thanks Norah! If I could sit down and play you a couple of Joni songs maybe that would be another moment of beauty I could share with you. Ahhh, so much beauty, so little time.

I am an overenthusiastic person, if you haven't already guessed.

take care, Sue

Gloves to go with my Shamrock Hat

Hi,

I finished my first pair of gloves to match my Shamrock hat! I used the Progressive Gloves Pattern from Interweave Knits Winter 2003. They were fairly easy but I think the next time I make a pair the fingers will be longer and the thumb opening will be smaller. But hey for a first try I'm happy. Plus if making them gets the weather warmer so I have to save them for next winter, that's OK, too!



Finally added the Flickr box to my blog, too. Wish I was better at this but Rome wasn't built in a day!

Take care, Sue

Shamrock Tam Chart

Hi,

Here is the chart I used for my shamrock tam. The directions for the tam itself it at Knitty for the Three Tams pattern: http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTtam.html



Sorry it's too late for St. Patty's Day. You can start making batches for next year!

take care, Sue

Shamrock Tam

Hey, how's it going?

My current project is adapting Tam B from the knitty pattern 3 Tams to a St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Tam using a plain green and a variegated green Patons Classic Wool Merino. I started here:



But as I finished I developed two problems: 1) the image of the shamrock was not as visible because the variegated yarn "disappeared" at certain intervals when it matched the main color. 2) I used 6 needles instead of 7 and the hat came out too small.

So I am going to frog the whole shebang and start again. I think I will cut the main color green out of the variegated so the shamrocks show up better. UPDATE: I finished the tam above.

take care, sue

Ravelry!!!

YEAH! I'm on Ravelry! I'm still under construction but come visit my page if you want:

http://www.ravelry.com/people/cloudheights

take care, Sue

My Love/Hate Relationship with Homespun Yarn

In an effort to diminish stash for some reason I continue to knit with Lion Brand Homespun yarn, which is basically a cheap crappy acrylic. It splits and pills and the colors just don't make sense ... but the two sweaters I made with them I wear more often than any others I've knit. They are slouchy and comfy. Now I've completed yet another sweater in Homespun while I have promised myself I'm going to finish my Jo Sharp wool/silk sweater before spring comes. I guess when it comes to knitting satisfaction, Homespun knits up very quick on 10.5 needles, and the colors are just such a surprise that I don't know what to expect as the yarn comes out of the skein. This is a sweater from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006: Cowl Neck Sweater #37. The color I used is Nouveau, which yarndex describles as 338: Nouveau (Chocolate,Gray,Tan). OK, there is a dark brown (which I think all Homespun colors have) but even though all the skeins I'm using are in the same dye lot, as I knit there is a red purple band coming through and also turquoise and baby blue!!! (you can actually see the reddish purple bands in the bottom rib, below the cowl and on the arm) It looks to me like the dye machine threw up on the yarn but every time I wear my other two sweaters I get compliments about how beautiful the colors are in them. Hmm. So why am I complaining so much? I finish them in a wink, they are comfy to wear and I get compliments about how great they look on me. I guess I'm just a damn yarn snob. Now that my Homespun stash is depleted, I wonder how long it will take me to cave and buy more!!! More will be revealed!! Ha ha.

Here are two other sweaters: The cardigan is from an old Vogue Knitting from the 90s and the ring neck sweater is from an Interweave Knits pattern from a couple of years ago. I will double check the issues and get back to you. Also, I'm sorry for the cell phone shots since I leant my camera to my daughter.






Take care, sue