Cloud Heights

VK Dutch Tunic Progress

2012-01-16T08:01:00.000-05:00

I have just finished 10 inches of the back. Berocco Remix is a beautiful yarn. I think it is perfect for this sweater because of lightness, since, at 28 inches long, this sweater would be VERY heavy with a 100% cotton yarn. Remix also has a flow to it that will make the silhouette drapey and not stiff. I'm really excited about finishing this so I can start wearing it for my spring wardrobe!!

Take care, Sue

January Round-up: What the heck am I knitting?

2012-01-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'm knitting right now ...

Vintage Elbaite - From Norah Gaughan Vol. 7 - I've been looking at this scarf for quite a while and decided to just go for it when I was browsing in Knitting Etc. while on vacation. I bought three skeins of Berroco Vintage in colorway Chana Dal (pictured below). This color is amazing ... I can't get enough of yellow ochre, always my favorite while painting.

The unusual construction of this scarf has not bored me yet. I am done with the first section, adding the fringe and I am on the mid-section with the traveling cables. Really fun knit, and Vintage is so soft! Here is a photo of my progress:

I am also knitting a pair of socks, and a prototype square for a brioche afghan I'm thinking about designing. Brioche is my favorite stitch right now, especially with two colors.

Take care, Sue

Remix has arrived for Dutch Tunic

2011-12-29T23:57:00.000-05:00

I've started the VK Dutch tunic. Remix arrived today and I started the back. I'm using size 7 and size 8 needles ... the yarn is luscious!!!

Take care, Sue

Herringbone Cowl Finished!!

2011-12-26T07:08:00.000-05:00

Big win this Christmas!! My daughter repeatedly tells me she does not want me to knit anything for her because she probably won't wear it (she is very picky and hardly ever wears knitted items). So despite these warnings, last February I decided to press her and say "If I knitted something for you, not that I will, what color would you like it to be?" She said, "Cerulean blue, like the crayon. That would make my eyes pop!" So I bought two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in a glorious blue and proceeded to knit her the popular Purlbee "Herringbone Cowl." I struggled with this pattern as was discussed in my post at the time (see post) but I picked it up again in November and finished it ON CHRISTMAS EVE! Kate rolled her eyes when she opened up the present, but she did say she loved the color!! Success!!

Hope you all had a beautiful holiday!! Love, Sue

Vogue Knitting Favorites

2011-12-20T12:21:00.002-05:00

I've had a subscription to Vogue Knitting since the mid 80s. I love every issue and browse through them constantly. I had an idea the other day about the designs I've loved but never knit! I'm going to make an effort this coming year to make at least a couple of these beauties.

The first one I want to attempt is an Anne Mieke design from the Holiday 1987 issue.

Anne Mieke's simply designed drop shoulder sweaters were in almost every issue in the late 80s-early 90s. I always ahh'd over this one although I never made it:

The description states: "A Dutch fisherman's smock inspired Anne Mieke's drop-shoulder tunic with seed-stitched side slits, back panel, and front-buttoned placket. Coin buttons close the placket and decorate the back panel. In a Classic Elite cotton/wool."

I think I'm going to use an eco-wool for this in a heathered beige. The original yarn was Classic Elite Cambridge, a cotton/wool worsted weight. I would need around 1,500 yards for size 38 (with the oversized fit bust measurement would be 50"). I'm leaning toward Berroco Remix, although the gauge is a little off (17 st per 4 in).

Stay Tuned!!

Take care, Sue

How to Stop A Guilt Trip About My Ravelry Notebook - Statistical Analysis!

2011-08-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

So I made a pie chart of my Ravelry Notebook. Actually I don't feel so bad about this. Out of 125 projects, 72 are finished, which is 57 percent. I have a rule that I don't have more than 6 WIPs at a time, so that only makes 5 percent. 34 percent are in hibernation. 4 percent frogged.

So now that I've made a statistical analysis of my knitting, I can fling the guilt of mounting stash and rest on my laurels!!! (or my yarn piles!!)

Have a great weekend. Sue

Shadow WIP list

2011-07-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

I assume that most people who read knitting blogs know about Ravelry, so you will know when I say that chronic starters like me have a "SHADOW WIP LIST." That group of started items that you don't put in your Ravelry notebook. I guess I think of these items as shameful starts that I don't want to admit to, like my inner critic is saying "you started another damn sweater? What about the 9 WIPs you have on your RAV notebook? Don't you care about them?" Damn I hate that voice (and why does it always sound like my ex-husband!!).

So here I am coming clean about the things I've started since I was going to start seaming this cute baby sweater for my friend's new granddaughter:

or this very simple dish towel that I wanted for my kitchen (only 20 rows to go!):

Well it's time to come clean ... over the past week I've started another pair of flip flop socks, Norah Gaughan's Kaiju from Vol. 1 in Origami, and a new design of my own with some Red Heart Eco Cotton Blend that I got at Hobby Lobby in Elmira.

Ok, I got that off my chest. Thanks for letting me share. Now to get back to that new design. More about that soon. :-)

Have a great weekend!! Sue

Two Finished Objects ... Glint Lace Jacket and Seduce Spiral Cowl ...

2011-06-25T10:53:00.000-05:00

This is the wedding season and I just came back from my niece Lisa's wedding in St. Charles, IL (a suburb of Chicago). We had so much fun and a couple of weeks back I decided I wanted to make the Lace Jacket by Sharon Sorken from Vogue Knitting Spring 2010. See picture here, knit in the beautiful Artyarns Beaded Mohair and Sequins (retailing for about $60 a skein!).

I couldn't afford that so I decided to make it in the new Berroco yarn Glint. I bought 4 skeins from Webs in colorway Goddess to match the Banana Republic dress I had just ordered. Number 1 mistake: 4 skeins was not hardly enough yarn. Number 2 mistake: The Banana Republic dress didn't fit. I ended up getting a dark pink Calvin Klein dress and buying two more skeins of Glint. Here is my finished jacket:

This shot is unblocked. I blocked the sweater by lightly ironing it with a cloth. Here is a shot from the wedding with the lovely bride!

Sorry the beer bottles are in the way!! :-)

I have really been manic about starting things and switching from project to project lately. I had two skeins of Berroco Seduce from the stash my sister-in-law Wendy gave me, and I had a hard time deciding what to do with them since the colors contrasted so greatly: green and purple ... so I found this great free pattern on Ravelry called Spiral Cowl by Kerry McKiernan (it had 971 projects!) and I decided to make it color blocked so so when the cowl folds, you can see the contrasts. I think it worked! Here's a pic:

So on to more knitting madness. Mantra for today: I can't stop starting ... I must start finishing!

Take care, Sue

Lily's Birthday dress

2011-04-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

My grandniece, Lily, turned 1 year old on April 19, and I wanted to make her this dress from the Debbie Bliss Spring/Summer 2011 magazine. This pattern was #14 and I made size one. Lily is pretty small and I wanted it to fit her this summer. Instead of the Debbie Bliss Eco Baby yarn I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fine: two skeins cotton ball and one skein in mint, with size 2 and size 3 straight needles.

This was an easy knit but since I started the dress in late March I knew I had to keep at it or I wouldn't finish. The straight knitting stripes became boring especially since the fine yarn and small needles made the progress slow. But I stuck to my guns and finished most of the dress by the day before the birthday party (which was on April 16).

Don't you know while driving with my mom to the party I was seaming and picking up stitches for the finishing touches. Why can I never get it into my head that even though I've finished all the pieces, the seaming and finishing sometimes takes just as long as the knitting! Ugh. I apologized and told Sara, Lily's mom, that she would eventually get this pretty party dress. I was happy that I joined the party and forgot about the unfinished dress and spent time with my family (instead of sitting in a secluded part of the house trying to finish the damn dress!)

I actually ended up finishing the dress a couple of days later after I came back home. I had already picked up another project when my daughter Kate said, "Mom, I'll mail the dress to Sara if you finish it tonight." Ugh, she knows me too well. So I got the dress back out and finished it in a couple more hours. It was actually finished on April 19, Lily's first birthday. Kate put it in the mail the next day. I'm hoping Sara sends me a picture soon of Lily wearing it.

Damn I forgot to block it. There you go, perfection messing with my head again.

I would definitely recommend this pattern to anyone thinking about how cute it would look on a little one. The Brown Sheep Cotton Fine was a very good substitute. The pattern is very straight forward. I would put it an intermediate beginner level because the yarn is fine.

Take care, Sue

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T15:40:00.001-05:00

I'm wearing my new Box Cable socks for St. Patrick's Day. I made them last weekend.

I used the Toe-up pattern by Ann Budd from Interweave Knits Summer 2007.

I love this pattern because it not only makes nice fitting socks but it is very easy to improvise different patterns. On this pair I used a cable pattern from my VK Stitchionary for Cables. The Box Cable is #141. I used the pattern on the 24 sts on the instep and then when I reached an inch beyond the heel I switched to 4st cable and 3 purl st rib. I have also perfected the sewn bind off by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This makes a stretchy top so that you can actually fit the socks over your heel!! You can find this method in any of her books. I used the Knitter's Almanac.

I also made the socks a little bigger so that I could felt them a bit. I love this wool for socks but if I don't felt them a little right before I wear them, they will felt A LOT the first time I wash them. I ran them through with some pants and then hung them to dry and they fit really great.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Wear your green socks!!!

Sue

Tangled Up In Blue or how to mess up the most popular pattern on Ravelry!!

2011-02-11T18:38:00.000-05:00

So about mid-January I coveted (with the rest of the knitting world) Purl Soho's Big Herringbone Cowl designed by Whitney van Es. I wanted to use some stash that I had, a cotton wool, Cascade Sierra in light purple, because I knew by the time I finished it Spring would be here (although cowls will still be hot I'm sure).

My first attempt came out a wild mess ... the 17 needle was a bit too big and my stitches were ugly and uneven. So I frogged (note this is frog #1 for whoever wants to keep count). I went down to a 13 needle and after knitting about 10 rows the stitches looked great but the gauge was WAY too tight. Stitches were supposed to be about 4 an inch and I had almost 5 and a half. So I frogged again (#2) and cast on 290 stitches. I was sailing along and then MY CABLE BROKE ON MY NEEDLE. Cheap plastic crap!!!

I was so frustrated at this point I put it down and made a pair of slippers. It is freakin cold in Ithaca!!!

So I was telling my daughter about how much I loved this Big Herringbone Cowl pattern and I asked her if she would like me to make her one. "Yes," she said, "my favorite color is Cerulean Blue, like the crayon." So I just got paid, so I went to my favorite LYS, Homespun Boutique, and as soon as I walked in I saw two beautiful skeins of Malabrigo worsted in what I think is pretty close to Cerulean Blue.

So I also bought size 15 needles and started my daughter's Big Herringbone Cowl. The yarn was luscious and the color was amazing. I got to about 4 inches.

It was coming out lovely. Then the yarn started twisting around the cowl and while I was trying to untangle it I realized OH NO I TWISTED THE STITCHES ON THE CAST ON!!!!! FROG #3 on Cowl #2!!!! And here is what it looked like after a frustrated frog - TANGLED UP IN BLUE ...

What a mess. Well, this catastrophe waits for me on my kitchen table until I have a spare 72 hours to untangle it. I'm sure there is a Frog #4 in my future. God Bless all the lucky ravelers who are wearing their trendy Big Herringbone Cowls down a frigid 5th Avenue. I'm sure you look awesome. grrr.

Stay tuned. Sue

My Favorite Christmas Present

2011-01-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a video of the Christmas present I bought myself. It's a Japanese music box that plays "Both Sides Now," a song by my favorite artist, Joni Mitchell. When I bid on it at ebay, I was worried it wouldn't meet my expectations, but I was so happy when I got the package yesterday. The lid is a wood carved, painted yellow finch, and the music sounds beautiful. I'm so happy!

Take care, Sue

Slouchy Hat: Free Pattern!

2010-12-01T09:56:00.001-05:00

My sister Patty loved this hat that Jennifer Aniston was wearing in a photo online, so we bought some yarn when we were at the grand opening of GoshYarnIt, this cute new shop near her house in Wilkes Barre, PA.

Here is the quick pattern:

Materials:
3 skeins Classic Alpaca from The Alpaca Yarn Company. 110 yds. DK weight. I used colorway Sea Green.
1 circular needle size 6, 16 in. 1 set of 5 double pointed needles size 6.

Gauge: 22 sts and 28 rows for 4 ins.

Cast on 122 sts with #6, 16 in circular and rib 1x1 for an inch and a half. Increase Row: stockinette st k5, m1 around, end k2. Then knit for 7 ins. First decrease row: K4, K2tog around. Dec 2 more sts within the next 4 rows to get to 120 sts. Knit for 2 more ins.

Decrease crown: Row 1:K10, K2tog around Row 2: K. Repeat these two rows, knitting one less stitch (eg. K9, K2tog for row 3, K8, K2tog, for Row 5, etc.) Also change to double pointed needles when crown gets too small). When you get to 12 sts, K2tog around. Cut yarn and slip through last 6 sts, pulling together, then secure yarn. Done.

Here is Patty and her new slouchy hat (and her new grandbaby Lily!)

Take care, Sue

Stolen!

2010-11-13T13:13:00.000-05:00

My daughter fell in love with a hat on Etsy and wanted to know if I could make it for her ... so as a famous knitter once said, I unvented it!!! I made it a little different from the designer on etsy. I first unearthed a headband pattern from Vogue Knitting Fall 1984: which is basically a fisherman rib band. Then I made a garter stitch rectangle with two pleats in the middle (I stole the pleat from Norah Gaughan 6 tank Comment) and attached it to the headband. I used one skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in black

It came out great, but I still have a little guilt about stealing the idea. Here is the finished product:

Yeah! It came out cute!

Speaking of Norah Gaughan, I finally finished Heron. Another stash complication. I had about 12 skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra in colorway Elm from my sister-in-law Wendy's rescued stash, and I got almost 5/8 of the way through the sweater when I ran out. I found 5 more skeins on Ebay but wouldn't you know the dye lot was slightly darker. So the back peplum and the collar look slightly off to the trained eye but I've had no complaints. It came out great. Another successful Norah Gaughan completion:

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Take care, Sue

Finished! For babies and some for me ...

2010-08-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I've finished a couple of projects since I last posted and thought I would talk about them a bit. First some stuff for babies.

A woman at my work is having a baby and wanted some hats for when he arrives in August. She wanted something simple in basic colors. She picked out this Blue Sky pattern (which is adorable) and I went to see Hickory at Knitting Etc to see if she had the pattern and a cotton yarn to match. I think cotton is better for babies than the wool that was suggested. I picked out Blue Sky Dyed Cotton (worsted weight) and they just came out adorable. I had some yarn left over to make something for Lily, my new grandniece!!

I made this cat for Lily with leftover yarn from the baby beanies project. CUTE!! I put a bell in the cat’s head so it rings when she shakes it. :-) I'm thinking she likes it. I called the cat Bluey after my own precious Bluey, my siamese.

Well, I also finished two pieces for myself which came out OK. In April I bought 3 older Berroco booklets, Yin and Yang, Nostalgia and L’Attitude. I love these simple structured, asymmetrical designs. The designers for these booklets are two of my favorites: Marjory Winter and Norah Gaughan. I picked Gomasio from the Yin and Yang booklet. I used 5 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton-ease in color Indigo. It came out a little big but this cardigan is so comfy!!

Earlier in the spring I realized that my favorite thing to wear is a scarf vest I bought at TJ Maxx. It is so comfortable and covers the growing love handles!! So I was browsing through the Spring 2008 issue of Knit.1 and found a bunch of really cute patterns (I couldn't believe how many pieces in that issue I wanted to make). I chose the Ribbed Scarf vest but unfortunately I had no money to buy yarn so I used this large skein of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in Vintage Twist. I always hesitate to use a yarn like this for anything other than dishcloths but low and behold it came out really cute! I think I will make this pattern or one like it again with a better yarn.

Oh my God, please disregard the mess in my bathroom. What was I thinking! I don't have Photoshop right now so you will have to live with the mess like I do every day!! :-)

Well, there is my summer update. Happy knitting my friends!

Take care, Sue

After four years, Silkroad Cardigan is done!!!

2010-03-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

Jo Sharp Silkroad Cardigan, Interweave Knits, Fall 2004

I bought the yarn for this project in July 2006 off of ebay. The yarn is gorgeous, a wool/silk and cashmere blend. I used colorways Brindle (brownish gray) and Pulp (creamy yellow ivory). I love the pattern but once I started working on it I got bored from the endless inches of ribbing. Hence it lay in the hibernating pile for years!!

I started working on it again in September 2009. I got a tip through Ravelry that you really need 3 skeins to finish the collar/tie section and thank God I was able to find another skein to match on ebay.

Don’t know if there is Errata for this pattern but when I got to the collar/ties and connected the tie to the collar for the first time the ribbing didn’t match so I had to increase a purl st at the end of the tie and a purl st at the beginning of the collar, so that meant there were 44 sts all together instead of 42 (24 for collar, 18 for tie, plus two inc sts). I had to then decrease these two sts when I separated for the other end, collar/tie.

If I was going to make it again I’d probably make it about 4 inches longer but at this point I’ll go with how it came out. The thought of frogging gets me crazy!! :-) The look is a little different on me than the willowy model in the photo but I'd say that happens for almost all the sweaters I knit!!! Ha ha. :-)

Now on to the next late project!! Take care, Sue

Silkroad Ultra Eyelet Pullover

2010-02-23T13:24:00.004-05:00

This is a creative stash project. Which means I have a group of skeins that could possibly make a whole sweater if I think creatively.

My sister-in-law Wendy gave me a hefty bag of yarn that she was going to throw out (FAITH AND BEGORA!) so I rescued the poor things, beautiful orphans of merino wool and silk blends. I had two bags of Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra (bulky blend of wool, silk and cashmere!) in colors dark brown, orangey brick, beige and white. I had about 8 skeins of the brown and 4 of the orange, one each of the beige and white. The gauge is 14 st to 4 in on 10.5 needles. I searched Ravelry and my Vogue Knittings from the past 5 years to find something I liked in this gauge.

I was overjoyed when I found this Eyelet Pullover by Rima Mikneviciene in Vogue Knitting Fall 2005. I’ve been wanting to make this sweater for a while and the gauge and type of wool fit perfectly. The only problem was the amount of yarn. The dark brown would not make a whole sweater so I decided to use the brown orangey color for the front eyelet pattern and eyelet sleeve sections, and the dark brown for the back, bottom sections and sleeve tops. It will be a rush to the end to see if the yarn holds out but I’ve already found a seller on ebay that has a stash of 10 more dark brown skeins if I need them.

The next dilemma will be the size. I chose size medium because it was a 40 in bust, which is my size. This sweater has a snug fitting silhouette, so I'm hoping it fits me. If not, I'll find someone who it fits, or maybe I'll sell it on Etsy.

Stay Tuned!! Take care, Sue

Flip Flop Socks, by popular demand!

2009-12-16T13:27:00.002-05:00

Hi!

I posted some knitting projects on my facebook page and a friend emailed me and said "Please make me a pair of flip flop socks so I can give them to my friend for Christmas!" So I bought a big skein of Berroco Sox and pulled out the 56 stitch sock pattern (my favorite sock pattern!) and modified it a bit. I tried this once before by ribbing for an inch when you were supposed to do the toe decrease, and then sewing together the ribbing between the big toe and the next toe, but that stitch kept ripping out. So I decided to go the extra mile and actually make a separate ribbing for the toe. Here is the modification:

Knit 8 rows K2, P2 ribbing. Then start heel. Continue in pattern till you reach length of foot to the toes. Instead of toe decrease, put first 10 sts of instep on one needle, put next 36 sts on holder or scrap yarn, then put last 10 sts on another needle (add third needle and distribute sts evenly). Knit 20 sts, then pick up one st on instep and one st on back. K1, p1 around on 22 sts for 4 rows. Bind off. Then put 36 sts on 3 needles. Knit 36 sts, then pick up one st one st on back and one st on instep. K1 p1 around on 38 sts for 4 rows. Bind off.

YEAH, flip flock socks!! Have fun! Sue

More Pictures from the Craft Fair

2009-12-08T17:26:00.005-05:00

Hi,

Here are some shots of our displays:

This is a display of my mom, Sheila's cross-stitch ornaments and bookmarks.
This is a display of my sister, Mary Beth's Daisy Heart Designs jewelry. She sold a lot of earrings. You can find her on Etsy.
And here is a shot of my table with my knitted items.

Sue

AAD Craft Fair

2009-12-03T16:25:00.008-05:00

Hi,

I sold knitted items at my first craft fair today!! Some of the items are posted below. I sold the green victorian scarf for $20, the knitted slippers for $12 and I made a quick $5 on some earwarmers (I don't have a picture of this item yet). The earwarmers were just something fun I made up. I'll post a pattern for these soon. YEAH, $37 and my sister sold about $100 in earrings so we donated $25 to the local food pantry. I also got a commission for two pairs of Christmas stockings, a zip-back baby sweater and two more pairs of slippers.

Holiday Slippers from the Patons Next Steps: Socks and Slippers pattern book
Victorian Scarf by Knit Picks made in Crayon (100% cotton)
Whitney's hand warmers from the PurlBee blog.
Camoflauge helmet liner from the Patons Classic Wool free flyer
Three Tams from Knitty.com - Tam B in Patons Classic Wool Merino
Tam A

Lots of fun, Sue

Chenille Wrap

2009-09-22T08:49:00.003-05:00

This is another stash buster. My sister loves buying stuff on ebay and she bought me a cone of recycled cotton chenille in a champagne color a number of years ago. It has a sport weight but feels a lot like Lion Suede or Berroco's Suede tape. She also bought me for my birthday 10 skeins of Bernat's Matrix, a ladder yarn which I had a hard time figuring out what to do with.

When I came upon Iris Shrierer's How to article in the Vogue Knitting Spring 2006, I found my pattern for these yarns. Her wrap suggested a thicker yarn but it's an adaptable pattern and I used a 7 needle alternating two rows of chenille and two rows of Matrix. I love the result!!

I finished this just in time for my trip to California!!

Take care, Sue

Holiday Slippers

2009-09-15T11:49:00.004-05:00

Hi,

I just finished these fun Holiday Slippers for a charity craft fair I'm participating in. They are from the Patons Pattern Book Next Steps Four - Socks and Slippers. I used some bulky yarn from my sister-in-law Wendy's stash which she gave me this summer. I was amazed - she gave me so much beautiful wool! This is Katia Himalya, a bulky wool blend. I adjusted the pattern by adding a rolled hem rib at the top and the red pom-pom. The rib goes like this: picked up 36 stitches around edge and K1,P1 for 3 rows then K every st for 3 rows, bind off.

I knit these up quick in two days. Take care, Sue

Free Pattern: Crossed Dishcloth

2009-06-04T09:00:00.003-05:00

I hate to be stuck anywhere without knitting. So I had some time to kill the other day before I met a friend for dinner and popped into Joann's fabrics to look at the yarn. I bought a crochet hook and a skein of Lily Sugar & Cream stripes in a pretty orange/brown/cream color. I played around with granny squares for a while then met my friend. I really liked the color though so when I got home, I pulled out my needles (I prefer knitting of course!) and conjured up this dishcloth. It's rough but pleasing! (joni quote)

Here is a free pattern:

Crossed Dish Cloth

Materials:
Yarn: 1 skein Lily Sugar and Cream Stripes, 100% Cotton. 96 yd./86 m. Color 21010 Natural Stripes.
Needles: #8 US (5mm)
Pattern: Double Seed Stitch
Row 1: K2, P2
Row 2: P2, K2
Row 3: P2, K2
Row 4: K2, P2

Cast on 43 sts. Start eyelet border:

Row 1: K2, K2tog, YO, K1, K2tog, YO till within 3 st, finish K3. You will now have 44 sts.
Row 2: K3, purl to within 3 st, K3.

Start Double Seed Stitch pattern:

Row 3: K2, K2tog, YO. Double Seed Stitch over 36 sts, end YO, K2tog, K2.
Row 4: K3, P1, Double Seed Stitch to within 4 sts, P1, K3.
Continue in this pattern till 16 rows are completed.

Start Cross pattern:

Row 19: K2, K2tog, YO Double Seed Stitch over 12 sts, K 12, Double Seed Stitch over 12 sts, YO, K2tog, K2.
Row 20: K3, P1, Double Seed Stitch over 12 sts, P12, Double Seed Stitch over 12 sts, P1, K3.
Continue in this pattern till 12 rows are completed
Row 33: K2, K2tog, YO, K12, Double Seed Stitch over 12 sts, K12, YO, K2tog, K2.
Continue in this pattern till 12 rows are completed
Row 45: Repeat Rows 19 and 20 till 12 more rows are completed.
Row 57: Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until 16 rows are completed.
Row 73: Repeat eyelet border Rows 1 and 2.

Bind off.

Continuous Stashbusting

2009-05-27T16:52:00.006-05:00

Hey,

It's been a while but over the past month I've been switching between at least five projects. My ravelry page helps me to stay focused but sometimes when I'm being completely manic I have to go the way the needles are taking me. I bought a huge skein of bernat handicrafter cotton in a yellow/purple blend. Why, I have no idea, but I wanted to make some kind of tank top out of it. After trying the star tank in the new VK a couple of times, I gave up (it was complicated with 6 double pointed needles) I decided on the Roundabout Leaf Tank from Knitting Nature (Norah Gaughan).

It's fun to knit. It's almost like knitting a scarf and spiraling it in on itself until it becomes a tube. Then you make the straps. I hope I have enough yarn! (famous last words!)

I'm also working on Chic Knits Ariann, an Iris Schrier multidirectional wrap, and a Schaefer Heather basketweave scarf/shawl. Oh and don't forget Farrell's birthday elephant which is already almost a month late. Whatever. It's keeping me relatively sane!!

Loveyas, Sue

Currer

2009-04-16T16:11:00.005-05:00

Hi,

I was hesitant to start this project after seeing the other ravelers who tried it … finishing seemed to be complicated, but I love the look, so as I continued to work through my stash, I decided to use my paprika Patons Classic Merino wool on this one. The wool seemed a little spring-ier and forgiving than the cotton. I like the way it looks and I've gotten a couple of compliments on it (Kate says "It's You"). The finishing isn’t perfect but I’m starting to really understand the techniques of picking up stitches and setting in sleeves. Gosh, only took 25 years! :-) I'm really hoping Norah and Cerilia do another How-To video about set in sleeves and picking up stitches around the neckline. Norah's video on sewing shoulder seams was awesome. Here's the link:

Norah Gaughan Teaches Shoulder Seaming

Here's a detail of the peplum:

Another stash busted!!! And oh yeah, my arm still hurts! :-)

Sue

Norah Raglan finished

2009-03-25T09:59:00.002-05:00

Hi,

Finished my towel sweater! The neckline is too wide but I think it's comfy enough to wear. Now on to finishing the next sleepy sweater. I want to try and finish the Jo Sharp Silkroad cardigan that I started almost 3 years ago!! STASHBUSTERS!

STASHBUSTERS!!

2009-03-20T12:59:00.004-05:00

Hey,

Although almost 40 people got laid off in my department this week, I made the cut and still have my job (deep sigh of relief!). It's tough out there ... I never really worried about losing my job, but I actually got the call from human resources and had to do the "dead man walking" trudge to her office. Thank goodness the first thing they said was I was NOT being laid off, but they needed to talk to everyone. It took about 15 minutes for my blood pressure to get back to normal!

Well with the economic realities in mind, I am in the process of STASHBUSTING! This will stop me from buying more yarn. (although I do have a birthday gift certificate to Knitting Etc. burning a hole in my pocket!)

I had this terry cloth acrylic hanging around and I just decided to make a hangaround sweater with it. I was browsing my old VKs and found this sweater by Norah Gaughan which looked perfect. Raglan sleeves, my favorite!! this will probably become my weekend yard work sweater!!

The yarn is Red Heart Baby Teri in a white/green. It looks just like a towel. I've finished front back and one sleeve so I hope to finish it this weekend.

All is progressing with my tendenitis. I go to physical therapy once a week and my yoga instructor is giving me good tips on how to exercise the arm so I don't get "frozen shoulder" which sounds horrible!!

Hope to have more pictures of this STASHBUSTER!! on Monday.

Enjoy, Sue

Simple Pleasures Hat finished!

2009-03-03T10:16:00.002-05:00

Hey,

Although my arm injury is still not getting better, I finished my Simple Pleasures Hat using continental knitting. All I can say is switching to continental knitting really didn't change the pain in my arm, plus all I can do is knit and purl, I had a lot of trouble knitting 2 together or anything else. So I think the main issue is knitting less (boo hoo!) I started physical therapy and I'm back to yoga, so we'll see how that regimen works.

The hat is adorable. I mentioned on my ravelry page that my adjustments to the pattern to fit gauge backfired on me and made the hat HUGE! I did wear it once but I looked like that guy from the Fat Albert cartoons who had a hat for a head! So I frogged and went back to the original instructions and it came out very nice.

Hope you are having a great day! Sue

Great RSI article in Vogue Knitting Winter 03/04

2009-02-18T13:38:00.003-05:00

I'm continuing with my continental knitting experiment to relieve pressure on my left arm. One hour of continental knitting in the morning and two hours of knitting at night maybe once or twice a week while watching TV. Thank goodness I have other activities at night to keep me away from knitting (band practice and my "spiritual" meetings!) Also going out to dinner with Steve (I'll always pass up knitting for that!)

I continued my reading of old VKs and found a great (and long!) article on Repetitive Syndrome injuries in the Winter 2003/2004. It goes into great detail about many remedies (including switching to continental knitting or vice versa), physical therapy, yoga and abstinence. The big message of this article is that if you don't do something about your injury and continue the repetitive motion, you can permanently damage your arm/wrist. That's a sobering thought. I'll try to include some more tidbits from the article as I don't have it with me right now.

I can feel my arm getting better because I'm sleeping better. My elbow was hurting a lot earlier in the week but today I'm feeling ok.

Current Remedy for Insanity: Continental Knitting!

2009-02-13T13:27:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I resigned myself to finding other activities besides knitting and decided to look through my old Vogue Knittings (starting with 1983!). While I was perusing a late 80's version, I came across an Elizabeth Zimmerman article on the difference between continental and american knitting. The most I could get out of the article (she was being her usual obtuse self) was that american was throwing and continental had more two handed action. When I got back to my computer I did a google search for "continental knitting" and found this tutorial on youtube:

Continental Knitting Demo

I watched the whole thing carefully and then when I got home from work, I tried it. It was slow going at first but I worked a couple of rows in the round on the Simple Pleasures Hat from purlbee that I started about two weeks ago. Nothing horrible happened and my arm seems to be getting slightly better. I guess the bottom line is I still need to learn a little moderation (and go to physical therapy) but I'm going to see if I can finish the hat just doing continental: Thankfully the hat is mostly k2, p2 rib and stockinette. I'm hoping I can relieve a little pressure on my arm and also learn something new! Another VK article I read was an early interview with Norah Gaughan and she said she knits continental, too. Cool.

PS, I'll post this to my ravelry site, but I substituted Misti Alpaca Lace 2-ply for the cashmere in the SP hat. I had to use three strands to get the right gauge for the ribbing.

Take care, Sue

The Sorrow of a Knitting Injury

2009-02-10T12:57:00.003-05:00

Boo HOO!! I have finally succumbed to the reality that my knitting injury is so bad that I can't even knit for a little while, knit with bigger needles, crochet instead of knit, knit in the round, nothing, nada, stop, really stop ... I can't knit, my arm hurts so bad just sitting still. So the reality also hits me how much I think about knitting. I was just in the post office and a lady in front of me was wearing a lovely handknit vest in my favorite color (camel) garter stitch edgings with a flattering rounded cabled front with a wood toggle at the breast. AGH! I didn't even care that it looked like she used a cheap acrylic bulky, I was insanely jealous. Boo hoo!! (see my own recent camel cabled version of cheap acrylic bulky!)

So what now? Do I plan future knitting projects for when my arm recovers? Do I read back issues of Vogue Knitting? I feel like this is comparable to sitting outside a bar after rehab. Do I search for a new obsession?

Well before I start anything I need to get an assessment of how bad my injury is. I've signed up for physical therapy. Until I get my prognosis I won't start giving away my stash.

BOO HOOOOOO!!!!!

Post-Christmas Mortem and My Knitting Injury

2009-01-19T14:00:00.007-05:00

Hi,

I have finally emerged from my post-Christmas funk to recap my knitting mania of trying to finish gifts by Mom's Christmas Eve dinner. I actually did pretty good this year all considered. Here are the finished products:

Miriam's Ice Queen (from Knitty Winter 2007)

Piper's Ganomy Hat with Bows (from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac) with bows designed by me.

Nana Sheila's Cabled Pocket Shawl (from Knit Picks) It looks like this pattern is no longer available at the Knit Picks site, but you can get it on ravelry as a free download.

MB's Tudora (from Knitty Winter 2007)

At the same time I was still taking classes to finish my Saddle Shoulder Aran Sweater, which is still in progress although the class is over.

The result: KNITTING INJURY!!!!!

My left arm from my wrist to my shoulder hurt so bad I couldn't sleep. I went to the doctor and he said I have tendenitis in my rotator cuff and I have to stop knitting for at least two weeks. If it's not better by then I will need to go to physical therapy.

CAN ANYONE SAY 12-STEP PROGRAM!!!! Sheesh.

More soon, Sue

New Logo

2008-12-10T09:41:00.000-05:00

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

2008-10-27T08:48:00.000-05:00

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

2008-09-09T08:39:00.000-05:00

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

2008-08-05T07:54:00.000-05:00

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!!

2008-07-07T12:23:00.003-05:00

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

2008-06-27T13:14:00.003-05:00

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

2008-05-21T17:30:00.006-05:00

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

2008-03-27T11:46:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-20T10:37:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-12T16:57:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2008-02-04T17:01:00.001-05:00

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

2008-01-18T16:41:00.000-05:00

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

Toe-up Socks!

2007-12-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

So I finished my first Christmas present finally. (I know there is only 1 week left) It's a hell of a lot better than I did last year. Sheesh, why do I bother. Any way, I really really loved Ann Budd's Toe-up pattern from the Summer 2007 Interweave knits magazine. These socks are right to the pattern except I messed with the rib a little. Here is my twisted rib pattern:

Row 1: K4
Row 2: P1, K2, P1
Row 3: K1, K2tog but before you slip off the needle, K the first stitch again, slipping both sts to the right hand needle, K1
Row 4: P1, K2, P1

I think I'm going to give these to my mother. She bought a pair of really comfy Clark sandals for the summer and is still wearing them with socks (we call this Ithaca Snowboots, but usually the sandals are Birkenstocks. My mom is too cheap to buy Birks). She'll love these socks, they will look Irish to her.

So the toe-up method is great because, as a compulsive stash hound, I'm always trying to knit something without the right amount of yarn. With toeup you stop when the yarn runs out or preferred length whichever comes first! These socks were made with one skein of Patons Classic Wool, which has a mighty yardage of 223! This has to be my favorite industrial use yarn. The colors are great, too. I refuse to buy it for more than $3.50 a ball though, so I'm always looking for sales. Michael's came through this season with a 2/7 sale. Yeah! In Ann Bud's pattern, the most difficult section of the sock is the cast-on, but if you do it right, you will have a very sturdy toe and the rest of the sock is cake. See my toe here:

I think I will only make toe-up socks from now on. Call me on it if I change my mind!

take care, sue

PS I used #5 double pointed needles and #8 for the top half (Ann wants you to increase needle size as you go up the leg).

Back Blogging!

2007-12-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I went on a hiatus for a while from blogging because I had to give up my laptop when I switched jobs. Now I've got a new laptop thanks to my patron, Jimmy, who is underwriting my many creative projects. God Bless you St. Jimbo! I've been busy knitting a pile of stuff, and even designing some pieces for the eventual launch of my design site.

My latest finished project is a stash creation made from some Berroco Cotton Twist I got on sale last year. The pattern is from the berroco site: Wren; but for my version I omitted the sleeves and made the V deeper. Below is my version and the picture from the berroco site:

That's actually Jimmy over my shoulder in the picture. Also, I bought a beautiful G clef rhinestone pin for the vest from my local vintage shop for $1.50. It has the double significance of being musical and looking like my initial "S."

Other events since the last posting is the birth of Bluey's kittens. Five beauties which I named after Joni songs: Hunter, Willie, Amelia, Hana and Marcie. After I took the kittens to the vet, I found out Marcie was a boy, so I had to re-name him Marky! Hunter and Hana were the purer siamese, while Amelia (who I called Mimi) was a little greyer with crossed eyes. Willie and Marky looked like their tiger daddy and had these cool ring tails. See my photo of them below. Unfortunately, they are all committed to new homes among my friends, so it will just be me and Bluey after this weekend. We had so much fun with the experience!

Take care, sue

Cloud Swirl

2007-04-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I shot this photograph which describes the type of clouds I like to paint. I'm hoping I can start on this one this weekend. I really want to expand the focus of this blog to my music, painting and knitting ...

I have a couple of exciting developments as far as music goes. I will be attending a Joni Mitchell Tribute event on April 28 featuring jazz musicians who will play Joni songs, and a talk by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, the editor of Acoustic Guitar Magazine. He wrote the definitive article on Joni's masterful guitar style in a cover story for Acoustic Guitar Magazine, August 1996. You can read the article here: Joni Mitchell article database.

Recently I also joined a band called LAVA ROCK. I'm rhythm guitar and background vocals. We are just in the practicing stage right now but I'll let you know if we start gigging! I need to start looking for an acoustic with a pickup or adding a pickup to my acoustic. It's time to go electric.

take care, sue

JoniFest 2007

2007-04-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. There is some knitting content to this report but not much. It's all about a bunch of Joni Mitchell fans getting together at an alternative resort near Woodstock for 4 days to eat, drink and be merry and also sing Joni Mitchell songs. I went to Jonifest in 2002 and had a blast. This year I went for the whole weekend and met old friends, new friends and sang my little heart out. We are all members of the Joni Mitchell Discussion list and I usually have a little name power with the crowd because I created the Joni Mitchell Guitar Database which assists people learn the complications of Joni's over 80 alternate tunings.

When I got there on Friday night, my beautiful hostess, Ashara, asked if I could play my set at 9:00! That gave me about 1 hour to prepare but all went well. I played Michael from Mountains, Otis and Marlena, and Silky Veils of Ardor. Here is a pic of me playing (and also wearing my blue Sonnet sweater):

Every night at around midnight after all the players have finished their sets, we had a song circle that lasted till about 3:00-4:00 in the morning. I was shocked I stayed up to the bitter end every night but there was always those luxurious naps in my room between lunch and dinner to keep me going. Here is a shot of me at the song circle Friday night. I think we played every song off of Court & Spark (i think i'm playing Just Like This Train here) Next to me are Les and Mike, good friends I met on this trip. Les is from Scotland and Mike is from Barcelona. Jonifest is an international event!!!

My favorite part of the event was meeting Monika and Nikki, two young women who just jumped in their car in Ohio and drove to Jonifest. Nikki didn't even know who Joni Mitchell was but Monika was the fan and Nikki came along for the ride. Nikki liked to sing Cyndi Lauper songs so I told her I'd back her up. She sang 3 songs: True Colors a cappela, Time After Time w/me playing guitar and Patrick (my good buddy) singing back up, and then everybody came on stage to play Big Yellow Taxi. What a trip!! I also backed Patrick up while he sang Night Ride Home (joni song) and the theme song for the weekend (there was a full moon every night!!) Here are some more pics:

Me playing back up for Time After Time

Me in my favorite poncho talking to Jeff

All of Us singing Big Yellow Taxi

Another Song Circle

Thanks for the memories!! And a hey to Barb, my roomie, who said "YOU BROUGHT YOUR KNITTING?"

Sue

Some finished ... some beginning ...

2007-02-18T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I've been hibernating and trying to finish some of my belated Christmas presents from my stashalong pledge. I've only actually finished one piece from my original list: Frankie's Swell Hat from Knitty.com. I used some stash Patons Classic Wool. It was fun to knit!!

During my last Knit Picks spree I purchased two skeins of Parade in color Tropical. It was in the clearance, and I thought I would make some socks. Of course, two skeins were not barely enough for this pattern (Interweave Knits Fall 2005: Cable & Ribs Socks) so I tried to find another skein and there was nothing at Knit Picks or ebay (and plus I'm not supposed to be buying anymore yarn) so I finished the socks with some oatmeal Peer Gynt I had laying around. Although the socks are wildly different, they are identical from the ankle up so hopefully with shoes no one will notice! First the interweave pic then my socks:

A long time ago (I'm guessing at least 6 years) I wanted to make a Native American Poncho from a vintage pattern I had so I bought a bunch of Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Off White, Denim Blue, Burgundy and Grey. I started the poncho, hated it and frogged it, then started a pullover and left it to sit. I am want to breeze through my old Vogue Knittings about once every three weeks when I want to start something new and I remembered how much I loved Anne Mieke's designs in the late 80s/early 90s. Her sweaters were big, colorful and very simple, mostly stripes and color blocking with simple shaping. So I decided that I wanted to create an original in the Mieke style. I wanted a sweater I could knit in one piece and found a old pattern of a dolman sweater that I could riff off of. I also used doubled yarn so I could make this mock fair isle stripe across the breast and along the bottom of the arms. I'll do a scoop crew neck in ribbing. Here are two pics, one with Bluey butting in:

I'm hoping to finish my "Mieke" sometime this week, so I hope to have another finished product to show you. I'll also try to write up a free pattern for you to download (if I discover it's actually wearable!)

take care, sue

My Going Away Party!

2007-02-09T16:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry knitting gang, this is a post about my going away party that was thrown by my friends in the Dean of Students Office. I got a new job in Alumni Affairs and Development as a Research Analyst. So after 13 years in DOS I got a wonderful send off. Here are some pics:

Michael, me, Carol and Lennon

Casey, me, Chrissie and Alice

Roxanne, Suzanne, me, David and Lynn

Lisa, Liz, me and Dan

Sue, Linda, me, Laurie and Kim

Cutter, Tara, Pam, me, Judy, and Barb

My Dean, Kent, me and Sue (check out her awesome scarf - this is the knitting content!)

Brendan, me, Gwendolyn and Sarah

A ton of fun was had by all. And the Dean and his wife Sue got me a $100 gift certificate to my favorite LYS!!! YEAH.

sue

Stashalong and Works in Progress

2007-01-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I survived 4 months of not buying yarn with Stashalong in 2006 and want to get back on the bandwagon. Kim, the owner of the site, gave stashers 3 options this year to make their stash reduction more interesting. I really need to finish some Christmas presents (most people got IOUs from me this holiday), so I went with Option 3 which is a plan to finish at least 5 WIPs in one month (and also not buy yarn).

Here are my works in progress:

• Pocket shawl (pattern from KnitPicks) made with Lion Brand Kool Wool from stash
I'm making this for my mom:

• My Favorite Poncho (my own design) made with Gedifra Distrato (color sunset) from stash. I'm making this one for my sister Patty:

• Snowballs Chance Armwarmers (pattern from Anti-Craft) with knitpicks telemark from stash which I'm making for my niece Lisa. I haven't started the duplicate stitch yet:

• Swell hat (pattern from Knitty) with Patons Classic Wool doubled from stash. This one is for my nephew Frankie.

• Cigar gloves (pattern from Knitty) made with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes from stash for my brother-in-law Frank. I haven't started these yet.

This should keep my mind off of buying new yarn for a month. If I just rotate around these 5 projects, completion may be mine.

take care, Sue

Santa sent me a new camera!!!

2006-12-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I'm really hoping that my blog can go to the next level now that I have a REAL digital camera. I've been knitting like crazy and have some shots of christmas presents that I finished. My fantasy knitting life and my real life hit a major road block the friday before christmas eve when I realized that I had only finished one present (my list included at least 15 projects). I have no discernment when it comes to the time it takes to make a nice knitted object for gifts. So instead of having 15 wrapped presents for my wonderful family I gave them each a card with an IOU.

My nephew and niece were the only ones who received finished projects:

Here is Sheldon the Turtle for Pipey:

This pattern is in the new issue at knitty.com. really fun to make!! and pipey loved it!!

I also made what I call the "Ringo Hat" for my nephew Farrell. He's 6 and his dad is a HUGE beatle fan so I crafted this version of the brimmed hat from the Knit.1 men's issue.

Here's some more shots of Piper and Farrell during their christmas romp at Nana's:

OK, I'm being kicked out of my favorite wireless coffee shop so I will devulge more about christmas knitting another time.

take care, sue

Swallowtail Shawl

2006-11-01T10:53:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Another holiday project: two Swallowtail shawls made with Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud: one in a teal color the other lilac. I've sent in a request to join the Swallowtail knitalong, which always helps me stay focused. This is really my first attempt at real lace so I hope it goes well. I know this is way too ambitious to pull off but I love to challenge myself.

My holiday WIPs are now: Swell hats for 2 nephews, Argyle socks for 1 brother, Pocket Shawl for mom, and two arm warmers for whoever ...

Other WIPs for me: Silkroad Cardigan, Vintage pullover and I need to alter my pattern for houndstooth and make another sweater. I'm really hoping to submit this pattern somewhere, somehow!

take care, Sue

Holiday Knitting

2006-10-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Ok, so the closer it gets to the holidays (or the f_in' holidays as my friends call it) the more I try to gauge how many presents I can knit in time. So far I have ZERO presents done. That leaves about 20 left. Right now I think I'm going to make all the guys the Swell hat on Knitty. I'm almost finished with one in blue and white stash yarn (Patons classic wool doubled on 8 needles).

Even though the gauge seemed right (4.5 per inch) the hat seemed small to me (I used the medium version for my nephew Frank's head). Plus the carry method of changing colors always makes the pattern area less stretchy. I also had to make it a little longer before I started the crown shaping. If all this fussing around makes a good hat, I'll make 4 more for the rest of the guys in different colors. I have some pumpkin and olive patons classic wool that I was going to make my Kurt Cobain sweater with, but opportunity knocks and I don't have any money to buy more stash.

I think the women are all getting arm warmers. There are piles of good patterns out there if you want to check them out. I made the first set for MB's birthday with Wool-Ease in a shiny white:

Mikado Fingerless Gloves

Snowball's Chance Armwarmers

Lion Cashmere Arm Cosies

Funky Punky Armwarmers

Supple Rib Knit Armwarmers (I like these)

Striped arm and leg warmers

Merino Stripes Gauntlets (that's a fancy medieval name for armwarmers!)

Patterned Armwarmers

Ribbed Armwarmer ($4 pattern)

Wacky Armwarmers

Faux Cable Armwarmers

ShitLoad of Armwarmers!!!

Everyone is getting these this year!!!!

take care, sue

Working on a new look ...

2006-10-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I wanted to change the look of my site. It's still in progress but I think it has a cleaner, more cloudlike effect. Tune in for more soon.

sue

Classic Argyles or Why Isn't there any solid colored sock yarn out there?

2006-09-18T16:27:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I have many vintage VK magazines and my oldest copy (from around 1945) has a classic argyle sock pattern, which those wartime wives made for their grey flannel-suited men when they came back from the war. My brother is a classic preppy and thought he would love a pair. So I went to a local yarn shop and darnit if I couldn't find any sock yarn with plain colors!! They were all the jacquard/fair isle/colorway stuff. I really wanted to get some tweedy fall colors. I ended up getting Rowan 4-ply soft in basic brown and 3 skeins of Rowan Cashsoft in light green, peach and blue. Since my socks needed five colors, I had a ball of Lanet in white that I used for the fifth color. Expensive, and I'm a little worried about the angora in the Cashsoft since my brother is allergic to furry animals.

So here is a horrid!!! cell phone picture of my progress so far which I mangled in photoshop to try and get the colors right. (i will try to get something better tomorrow). I'm using #1 double pointed needles but the argyle pattern is knit on two needles down to the instep. You start using five when you get to the heel and then later sew the back seam. I am also using self-made knotted bobbins of yarn for the color work. I found this technique in the Vogue Knitting Encyclopedia page 85.

I think I will post the directions for a free pdf download. The magazine was from the 40s so I hope that's not a copyright infringement. I'm not saying its my own work or asking for money. Is that OK?

take care, sue

FINISHED!! Sonnet

2006-09-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I'm so proud to say I've finally finished Sonnet, made with Tahki Chelsea Silk, one of the nicest yarns in my vast stash. It is gauged at 4st per in, knitted with 10.5 needles, and trimmed with I-cord. I also bought some very beautiful shell buttons from my LYS that reflect the colors in the sweater beautifully. Check out the shots:

Sorry about the tampon dispenser in the background. I took this shot in the 4th floor women's bathroom of Willard Straight Hall, Cornell.

This photo shows a little more detail of the variations in the yarn and the i-cord edging. Also the shell buttons, which are very nice.

Ah the sense of accomplishment. But then on the other hand, there is this gaping hole feeling of what to work on next? I guess I better finish my Jaywalkers. Then I have to make a list of presents to make for the holidays. Felted hats are high on my list.

Take care, Sue

PS. I would also like to acknowledge the 5th Anniversary of the Terror Attacks on 9/11/01. I am honoring the day, not re-living it like some of the news stations want us to do. I think living through one day like that is more than enough. May God's light shine upon them. Amen.

Update on Life With Just Me & Bluey

2006-08-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I realized the other day that I'm living alone for the first time in my life. I lived with my parents and brothers and sisters till I was 19 and then lived with Joe for 28 years. Thank God for my kitten Bluey. Or I would really be depressed!!

This is not a bad thing I am finding out. I can do whatever I want as long as i don't spend a lot of money. The actual legal process has not started yet so I'm trying to be frugal so I can keep my house.

I realized yesterday I'm going to way too many meetings (i'm in recovery 9 yrs, 10 months). Hiding in the rooms is not a good way to deal with life. Also staying in bed all day when I'm home is not good either. My friends in the program are priceless to me. A wonderful group of women who are all my sisters. Oh yes and then there is my real sister, Mary Beth, who calls me every day. I really love her.

What's keeping me stable these days is trying to stay balanced. To check my balance every day I start with an I Ching reading. Today was 5:Waiting, line 4&5 changing to 34: Taming Power of the Great. I read it to mean wait and save your power until the time arrives to act. The best reminder to myself is to be kind and not put too much pressure on myself to take action through fear of failure. This is a rough time on the psyche, almost like a death, so I have to sit in waiting and heal. I think I can do that.

So I started reading up on Narcissism. This has been an interesting psychological diagnosis that was often lodged on my missing father. So I started reading this BLOG, What Makes Narcissists Tick? (see my blog list below to check it out.) I also
downloaded this person's book that goes with her blog. She is a free lance writer and not a psychologist but it seems like she has the experience of living with such a person. The traits also really fit my husband (soon to be ex). I think reading this stuff is only helping me in one way. It helps me to realize why it was so impossible to reach him emotionally. It was the same way with my father. In time I think it will help me move on from the thought that things could have been different if only I acted a different way. Acceptance is key ...

thanks for listening, sue

Progress on Sonnet

2006-08-19T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I finished the body of Sonnet today (finally!) I'm thinking about doing the sleeves simultaneously to get finished quicker (or is that just an illusion?!) Here is a shot of the front with Bluey in the way. She's been supervising progress all week, trying to compete with the yarn for my lap. (she's getting bigger)

I'm starting to think about presents. September is a huge month for birthdays in my family and I'm thinking socks. I also want to finish the Jaywalkers before the end of August, but I don't know if I can give them up since they were so expensive (selfish) and are also so beautiful. This is my problem with giving knitting away as gifts. I want to keep everything I make. But I really want to save money this year and I have SO MUCH in my stash. Have I shown you my stash lately? (this is a picture from the spring but the only thing that's changed is about 30 more skeins of yarn!!!)

I'm still perusing the new Fall VK with a section on cool sock patterns (I like the thigh highs!) Also, the little scarf booklet that came with the new Interweave knits. I really want to make the Pam Allen scarf that looks like a tree branch. Looks fun.

Well, I'm still internetless at home so I'm sitting in the Ithaca Bakery with what seems like many parents bringing their freshman to Cornell (it's orientation weekend). The summer is officially over! :-(

take care, sue

Finished Vest and Martha's Vineyard

2006-08-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

I was so antsy to finish something that I whipped up this Twinkle Vest (from HolidayVK 2004) with some kitchen cotton from my stash. I like it, it's funky!

It's basically a long chunky cable attached to a seed stitch back with some twisted fringe. I think I finished it in 3 hours.

This weekend my dear friend Liz invited me to visit her at her cottage on Martha's Vineyard. I'm so blessed with good friends who are rallying around me in my time of need. It was my first time on MV and I enjoyed riding the ferry over and seeing all the sites (especially the beautiful houses). We rode bikes and hung out on south beach. We went to Edgartown one night and it was filled with happy, preppy people!!! :-) The weather was beautiful. Check out my crappy cell phone shots of our visit to the Gay Head Cliffs and Lighthouse (and one of the harbor from the ferry).

I hunted down one yarn store in Vineyard Haven called the Heath Hen. They had a lot of summer yarn on sale but I was good and stuck to my Stashalong promise. I did get the new Interweave Knits with the Scarf leaflet. Good stuff in there.

Take care, sue

My New Friend!

2006-08-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Since my breakup I've been thinking about getting a cat. Then I decided I wanted a siamese cat, so I saw that there was a siamese mix at the SPCA but when I got there it was like an inmate insurrection!! The cat attendent had this crazed calico scratching her face (a lot of bleeding) and the other cats were hissing at each other. The siamese I wanted to look at was cowering in the corner and as she wiped the blood from her face the attendent said, "I wouldn't pet her, she bites!" As I left even the kittens were fighting! Bad day in the lock-up!!!

So I looked at the local internet classifieds and a woman in Penn Yann was selling pure siamese kittens for a reasonable price. So I drove the almost 2 hours (through gorgeous farmland and lakeviews) to Penn Yann and found her farm. When I walked into her small house there were two kids, five dogs, and two cats each with their own litter. (oh yes and the horses and cows in the back yard). I picked out one of the three girls. Here she is, my new pal, Joyous Blue:

I call her Joy or Bluey, whichever works. I was amazed at how small she is, she's only 8 weeks old. She is not even 24 hours at the house and she's using her litter box and exploring all the hiding places in the living room. I sneezed a little bit, but overall I'm not allergic to her (not that bad).

When I left her to go to work today I left on the new age channel on my xmradio and she snuggled right up to the speaker! I now take back everything I said about people going on and on about their cats on their knitting blogs!

take care, sue

2006-07-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I have one Jaywalker sock and I'm almost finished with the back of Sonnet. Today is the 29th so I have the weekend and Monday to finish. It's funny how life goes. I'm thinking about this knitting project because it's so much less stressful than the fact that my 27 year marriage is ending. :-( I always thought of knitting as therapy but this may be something not even knitting can help with!! I am reminded of Brenda Dayne's podcast where she talked about the Memory Muse (if any of you listen to her fabulous podcast "CastOn") Knitted garments take you right back to where you were when you were knitting them. I'm hoping my Jaywalkers remind me of the beautiful vacation I had down at Topsail Island and my blue sonnet sweater will always remind me of being so sad while listening to Joni Mitchell sing "Hejira."

There's comfort in melancholy
when there's no need to expain,
it's just as natural as the weather
in this moody sky today

take care, Sue

I'm at the Beach!!

2006-07-12T08:37:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I'm on vacation with my family down at Topsail Island, NC. What a blast!! The weather is perfect and we have 15 Tierneys in two cottages. The median age here is about 19, so we have a lot of carousing going on. :-)

On the knitting front, I brought Sonnet and the Jaywalkers and I'm in the process of finishing the first sock.

I've adjusted my July Challenge on Stashalong so I can finish Sonnet and Jaywalkers by the end of the month. I don't think I'll have a problem with the Jaywalkers, but when I get home next week I'm really going to have to concentrate on Sonnet.

Back to my routine of swimming, sleeping and eating!! (and knitting of course)

sue

New Design In Progress: A Fringed Tank

2006-07-06T05:57:00.000-05:00

I'm on vacation (YEAH) and I started designing a new sweater. About two years ago my sister, MB, gave me a cone of cotton chenille that she bought on ebay that looks very suede (color called champagne). I started a couple of projects with it but frogged all of them because they didn't fit the "suede look." Being an old hippy, when I think suede, I think fringe. So I decided on a boatneck tank with fringe. I have started experimenting with drawings in Illustrator, and here is my sketch of the tank:

I'm still deciding just how much fringe I want, front and back every three inches and at the botton edge and collar edge or just up to the bust in the front and along the bottom edge and plain on the back. I'll see how it goes. All over fringe might look like a flapper shirt (although that might be cute). I'm using an eyelet pattern every three inches on front and back which will either attach the fringe or just be a pattern if I decide not to fringe all over.

The eyelet pattern goes like this:
Row 1: K, Row 2: K, Row 3: K1, *K2tog, YO* end K1, Row 4: K. Row 5: Repeat Row 3, Row 6: K.

Here is my progress on the knitting so far:

I added fringe to the botton edge to see if a three-inch hang would work. I like it. I'm using size 5 needles at 5.5 st per inch. It will be size L (40 in bust).

This is going to be one of two projects (including Sonnet) that I will try to finish by the end of July for the Stashalong July Challenge.

Wish me luck!! One more day till I go to the beach!!!! YEAH!!

sue

It's time to get back to Stashalong

2006-07-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I had a successful two months on Stashalong, and then took June off. My buying of yarn came back uncontrollably and as I hit "BID" today on 10 skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed I realized again that I was manic about buying yarn. I've had this yarn on my ebay search list for a couple of months because I really want to make this Jo Sharp design from Interweave Knits: Silkroad Cardigan. Does anyone know if this sweater has a Knitalong? If not, I might start one this fall to make this sweater. I got 10 balls of brindle and I'm looking for two skeins of Silkroad DK tweed in pulp.
This sweater is so beautiful and I can't wait to start it. In the meantime, I'm going to stick to Sonnet this week and join Stashalong for another 2 months tomorrow.

Keep the faith!!!! Sue

I've joined the Sonnet Knitalong

2006-06-28T04:54:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I discovered a Sonnet Knitalong so I joined today. Looks like some innovative knitters are on this KAL, with ideas about shaping in short rows and I-cord trim. I've been on several blogs where people are knitting Sonnet and it seems like most people, like me, are thinking BLUE! If I can stop picking up my new sock project, I'll make some progress this week and will post another pic.

take care, sue

Good Nautie, Bad Tutu or My Trip to NYC

2006-06-26T04:27:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Just got back from an exiting trip to the Big Apple. I love jumping in my car and going on excursions like this. I had several "dates" set up for this journey. On Friday night I attended the Cornell LGBT Alumni Pride Celebration on the 60th floor solarium penthouse near Wall St. Although I was an hour late because of mind-numbing traffic, I arrived and was thrilled to see so many former students. It was a blast. Kent and his wife Sue were there, too (Sue is a fab knitter!) Although a little rainy on Friday night the view from the terrace was amazing.

Second date on my journey was to visit my brother Tom and his wife Miriam in Brooklyn Heights. I brought Farrell his 6th birthday present, the Nautie!, and HE LOVED IT!! He even brought it to bed with him when he said goodnight. I call that a major success. He loved the fact it was a fossil, and showed us the other present he got for his birthday, a T-Rex model which my brother told me came in a brick and he had to excavate it and put it together just like a real paleantologist (with Dad's help). So cute!

I also told Miriam about Piper's Tutu that I was making and learned some very important information: NO PINK. Miriam makes a point of never putting pink on Piper. I'm not sure what the rationale is for that but I was very happy to hear that!! No biggie. I'll go look up another cute pattern for a sundress for her and I'm sure I'll be able to find another toddler cutie who likes pink. What's the point in making something that won't be worn, I say! That means I can start another project! :-)

Date 3: I met up with my daughter Kate and took the subway to SoHo where she works at NikeID. She designed me some cool sister spirit soccer sneakers and then I had to say goodbye, but I asked her how far away purl soho knit shop was. It turned out it was only 3 blocks away!! I've been to purl's website many times and Kate bought me some purple skeins of Cascade 220 there for Christmas last year. It was POURING rain and all I had was my distrato poncho so I cut under the awnings till I got to sullivan street. The shop was adorable! I was probably there for a little under an hour perusing sock yarn and patterns. I also wanted to look at Alchemy's Synchronicity for the Rock Star pattern but I was underwhelmed. For $24 a skein it already looked a little pilly so I passed it by. I did end up buying some outrageously expensive sock yarn: two skeins of Koigu KPPN for 11.50 each and a set of #2.5 bamboo double pointed needles (I thought 2.5 was a funny size!). I started a Jaywalker sock while I was in Brooklyn and the yarn is luscious! (Although I pulled it out because the size was too big). Here is a shot of the yarn.

I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of the weekend but as I was driving into NYC I was on the phone with Kate getting directions to her Nike shop and my phone went dead! Bummer!! I really need to get a digital camera bad. I would love to show you more shots of the streets of New York in the rain. I really had a lot of fun. Freewheeling!

This week's project is Sonnet. I was thinking about starting a halter top but I want to behave and keep going with the finish project.

Have a great day, sue

Progress this week on Piper's Tutu

2006-06-23T05:13:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I thought since I'm working on UFOs week to week I would give Friday updates. I had given myself a deadline of this Friday to finish the tutu so I could bring it down to Brooklyn this weekend when I visit my brother and his family. Well I finished the back. Progress is progress and really Piper's birthday isn't until July 8 so I still have time. That's another problem I have with not finishing projects, especially if I'm making them for a special occasion. I get disgusted with myself if I don't meet a specific deadline (e.g. Christmas presents) so I just chuck the UFO deep into my stash closet and it gets forgotten. I think that if I control myself I could say "ok I missed my deadline, but this could still be a really cute Valentine's day present or a "It's just a Monday" present. Who cares? Just give!

Ok, so here is the back of the tutu finished:

Speaking of giving, yesterday while I was knitting I was reminiscing about my brother Tom (Piper's Dad) when he was 2. He was such a cute baby and I was 10 years older than him so I remember a lot about when he was that age. He clung to a blanket and sucked his thumb just like Linus from Peanuts. We actually loved Peanuts at that time and at Christmas time I would paint our back sliding glass doors with the ice skating scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I googled Linus blanket to see if any savvy knitter had created a pattern, and came to the Project Linus website. I think I remember Brenda Dayne talking about this charity on her podcast. I thought about designing a pattern that would be just like the classic wool satin-trimmed green blanket that my baby brother carried around religiously when he was a toddler. Well, if I pursue this idea, I will keep you posted. Now I have to plug along with the tutu on the off chance I can finish it before I get to Brooklyn tomorrow!

Have a great day!!

sue

Finished Objects and Another Sweater!

2006-06-15T05:09:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I've created a finished object section so you can see what I've been working on for 2006. It was actually a satisfying task creating that section because I realized I did get a couple of things done this year. In the meantime, I started another sweater ...

I went out with my mom on Saturday to go to see the DaVinci Code and have lunch. I had to take her over to the new location for my LYS "Knitting Etc" because she lives very close. We had a lot of fun checking out yarn and Hickory had a sale basket with seven skeins of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Tweed in purple (favorite textile:silk, favorite color: purple). $4 a skein. Had to have it, and my mommy bought it for me (i love my mommy).

When I got home I pulled out one of my Vintage VKs from Spring 1964 for a lacey shell I was hoping to make some day. The yarn is taking to the pattern beautifully, so I guess I'm going to have to adjust my "Project Finish Knit" goal list and add another sweater. Here is my progress so far:

I had to rip this out twice because the lace pattern, although fairly easy, needed more attention than I was giving it. It turns out that I really have to count along with the stitches so I don't start day dreaming. the pattern is

Row 1: k2, *yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k1* yo,k2
Row 2&4: p
Row 3: k3, *yo, sl k2tog psso, yo, k3* k3

If I count in sixes, I keep to the right pattern. Mind control at its best.

take care, sue

Progress on my Vass Sweater

2006-06-09T05:28:00.000-05:00

Hi,

So I mentioned the other day that I joined the Finish Knit-a-long, which is another knitting self-help site in which you contract to stick with 3-4 projects until they are FINISHED! What a concept. So of course I'm on a sweater that I started this week (instead of keeping to the four sweaters I started earlier in the month!) which is kind of like a drunk who knows she's going to rehab tanking it up before the white coats arrive. :-)

I've been admiring this pattern for a while. It's a ribbon yarn sweater designed by Joan Vass from the Spring VK 1996 issue. Last year when I discover the Yarn by the Bag site, I bought a bag of Patons Fresco for 12 bucks. (that's 10 skeins!) I've started at least 3 different projects with this yarn and ripped out each of them. I really like the feel of the yarn. It's almost like cut up strands of tie-dyed t-shirt! As I mapped out the yardage I discovered I was probably going to be about 3 skeins short (and of course this yarn is discontinued). Off to ebay where I posted a "want it now" message. In a couple of hours, I had ordered my three skeins!! (love ebay) So I like the way the varigated colors are mixing in the pattern (like a wavy diamond intarsia pattern), and I think at this point I have no excuse as to why I wouldn't be able to finish this sweater! Famous last words!

The other three projects I've committed to finishing are Piper's Tutu, the Spring Scarf, and the Sonnet Cardigan. We'll see if I can stay out of the bar!! :-)

take care, sue

Thanks for your comments!

2006-06-03T07:03:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I am very happy that people have been visiting Cloud Heights and leaving comments! I love receiving the support for my knitting projects and even one person who liked my tonka poem! What is most exciting is hearing from other bloggers so I can visit their sites, too. Michele wrote me about her new blog Project Finish Knit which is like a heavenly gift for me. I just finished two months of Stashalong and this project, to limit the number of projects on the needles, could really help me to break out of my unfocused obsession with starting yet another knitting project. GREAT!

I hope this helps me to start my Finished Objects page! :-)

take care, sue

I can't stop starting!

2006-05-31T04:23:00.000-05:00

I know you know this. For the past week I can't stop starting. I've been jonesing to start something new although I have, let's count them, 8 projects on needles. I know it's because of the summer weather that has just descended on Ithaca, and my idea that I need summer camisoles knitted for every day of the week before I go on vacation. It's hard to be a seasonal knitter because if I think of a nice summer sweater in mid-June, I'm lucky if I finish it by Christmas. Same thing if I get the fall issue of VK in August and then I have a back and a front of my Aran cardigan by May. (i made that up - I never got past the first 10 inches of my Aran cardigan that I've been planning since the mid-90s).

So I've started and ripped out 3 different starts this week, so now I'm going to try and temper my obsession by giving you an update of the Sonnet sweater:

This sweater is coming out great! I enjoy the pattern and the silk/wool yarn is gorgeous. What's my problem? Stick with this one Sue so you can wear it at the beach at night!!! Yikes.

Another part of my mania this week is that I saw an ad in the new InterweaveKnits of a sweater from Alchemy called Rock Star. I had to have it so I went to the alchemy site and they referred me to purlsoho.com to buy the pattern. In a rush to buybuybuy I ordered the pattern for 6.50 + .54 tax + 6.50 shipping!!! As I browsed around later I found the same exact pattern at Webs for 5.00. See what compulsion can do to a person (and a pocket book!) Arrgh.

Well, I feel better now. Back to Sonnet. I really need to finish a couple of pieces so I can start my Finished Projects page. :-)

have a great day!! sue

Tonka Poem

2006-05-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

Hi,

As I walked across the Fall Creek footbridge the other day on my way to work, I saw something that conjured this poem. I wanted it to be a haiku, but I had too many syllables. Thanks to Joe, my favorite poet, who said that it could be a tonka (5-7-5-7-5):

EMPTY NEST

With Plathian oven mitts
She lowered the fishing line
into the abyss
With love notes for the missing
attached to the hook

Merrill Presidential Scholars is over (or now I can have a life!)

2006-05-25T04:56:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I don't talk about my job much because this is my space to explore the other half of me that gets ignored while I'm running one of the busiest offices at Cornell University. I am the assistant to the Dean of Students and besides being sole support for the Dean (who is a great guy called Kent Hubbell, professor of architecture) and working with some of the most brilliant and fun students in the world (from all over the world, too) I have to coordinate this monster program called "Merrill Presidential Scholars Convocation." It's a two-day event which honors the top 1% of the graduating class of Cornell (36 scholars) who invite their favorite high school teacher and favorite Cornell faculty member to celebrate with them at three events hosted by the President of Cornell. This event dominates my life from early February till it's over the last week of May. By the time it's over I'm a brain dead wet rag of a person who needs to sleep for at least a week. When I'm able to come to consciousness the Thursday after the last event (which is today) all I can think about is what I am going to do with the amazing amount of time I now have back to live my life. Knitting of course comes immediately to mind!!

So I started another sweater. :-)
Sonnet

Why do I set up these percentage bars when they never move because I'm continually starting other projects? I guess that's for another post but since I am still working the Stashalong for the month of May, I saw this sweater in Knitty and decided it was perfect for this beautiful blue Chelsea Silk yarn I bought on ebay last year.

I will post my progress later in the week but this sweater seems to be going very quickly because it's a side by side design in garter stitch (I love garter stitch!!) I think my biggest problem will be deciding what buttons to put on it since this design lends itself to very funky buttons, which I'm excited about.

Stay tuned! sue

Yang-May Ooi's Lit Blog: Fusion View

2006-05-17T04:24:00.000-05:00

A while back I received an email from Yang-May Ooi, a writer from England, who wanted to use one of my cell phone pictures for her essay on knitting. Wow! Another great internet connection! You can read her essay here: Knitting Blogs Yang-May's blog has so many wonderful stories usually about writing but also about any subject you can think of and she also invites guest writers, too. Check it out! I am getting a better appreciation of writerly blogs thanks to Brenda Dayne's podcast and all the wonderful writers she invites to read essays on Cast-on (not to mention her own beautiful essays). Thanks for finding me Yang-May!!

sue

Finished a Nautie!

2006-05-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I had to do it. I jumped on the nautie bandwagon (see the nautie knitty button below to go to the pattern). This thing is so cute and my nephew Farrell loves squids and make it a dinosaur squid and we have kindergarten nirvana. I decided to make it so I can send down a gift box to Tom and the fam for all the May birthdays: that would include a present for Miriam (not going to tell unless she reads this) and also the Piper Tutu and Nautie for Farrell. FUN! The colors of the nautie turned out to be a little gross but that gives the little guy even more boy-appeal. I love the dreadlock/tentacles.

Well I had a tooth pulled today so I'm feeling a little under the weather. This week I will post about playing Joni songs at the Recovery Center benefit on Saturday night!! A good time was had by all!!

take care, sue

Piper's Tutu Dress

2006-05-09T04:46:00.000-05:00

Here is the progress so far on the tutu dress. The bottom skirt is in Moda Dea Tutu color petal pink. I use a double strand with 11 needles to get the gauge. The bodice is in Royale Crochet yarn in white used single strand on 8 needles. I guess it's hard to see in this picture but both the Tutu and the crochet cotton has shiny rayon strands throughout the yarn which brings out the fairy princess details!! I want to get her white ballerina slippers and possibly a wand to complete the outfit. (although giving a 2-year-old a wand could quickly turn into a weapon against her over-active 6-yr-old brother!!)

Have a great day!! sue

My Percentage Bars are working!!!

2006-05-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

I pride myself on being pretty html savvy but these babies were bugging me. It took leaving them alone for about 3 weeks for me to attempt it again. This time I concentrated while reading Matt Harvey's instructions on his blog Unlikely Words. Look to the left were it says: Offerings - semi-sweet html morsels. After concentrating and following his instructions obediently I was able to make them work. The red is a little intense so I may change it to another color.

In my Stashalong site, people are really finishing things left and right. Me, on the other hand, realize that, OK, I figured out how to get percentage bars on my blog but I've started two new projects and really haven't finished anything. Maybe I should just pull out the Joni Wig and finish it for God's sake. It would be just in time for the Recovery Center benefit I will be playing at next Saturday. Joe and I were practicing some songs this morning including Amelia, Cactus Tree and Comes Love. He is also thinking about doing Ode to Big Blue (gordon lightfoot) and Boots of Spanish Leather (dylan) for the event. It all sounded very fine!

Here is a pic of the ballerina dress I started this morning for my almost 2-yr-old niece, Piper. She's such a sweety!

take care, Sue

PS This picture is from the Berroco free pattern site. I'll post a picture of my progress once I charge up my cellphone. Also, I've already changed the color on my percentage bars to melon!! :-)

Cloud Heights is on the Knitting Blogs Web ring!

2006-05-04T04:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, I'm so jazzed about this. I love reading the knitting blogs and this brings me closer to being part of the global knitting family! The internet is such an amazing thing.

I listen to Cast-on, Brenda Dayne's podcast, and she is such an amazing writer. She is doing a "muse" series, where she talks about the Muses in each episode and relates it to creativity and knitting. When she was talking about the muse of memory she touched a deep chord in me when she described picking up a piece of knitting and being brought back to the memory of what you were doing the last time you worked on that piece. This happens to me all the time!! I have so many UFOs in my stash that I can even pick up a piece of knitting and remember something mundane like a bad tv show I was watching or something profound like sitting with my daughter when she was 10 (she's now almost 24-how did that happen!)

But the emotion I felt most from listening to Brenda was the feeling that I've found a group of people who know how I feel. I've only found this in one other place in my life and that was when I walked into my first AA meeting. There is something about finding people who are so much like you that you almost feel like you've come home to something you've never known before. The emotions I feel when I'm with these friends is like my heart gets cracked like an egg and everything I've been holding inside comes out with a rush of release. How can talking about knitting be such an important experience? I think because it's a true art, and art and creativity are healing, safe ways to discover who you are. This is how I feel and it felt so great to know that at least Brenda knew how I felt too, and I'm sure a lot more of you out there feel the same way. I also feel this way about music and my other group of friends, the Joniphiles!! Life is connecting.

take care, sue

My first felted hat

2006-04-29T21:38:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Here is a very small, crappy cell phone picture of my new felted bucket hat. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out although the color of the yarn is not as bright as I thought it would be. I had to run it through the washer in hot water about 4 times before I got the right size. Now I have a great wool hat for rainy days this spring! :-)

So now my next project is what I'm calling my Kurt Percentage Sweater. I named it after Kurt Cobain who was quite a sweater afficianado. Stay tuned!

Sue

Knitting Blogs, in general

2006-04-26T05:36:00.000-05:00

Hi,

As you can see I've added the knitting blogs ring to my buttons. I'm on the list to be added to the ring but I haven't been approved yet. Every day I've been surfing, looking at other knitting blogs, trying to get ideas about what I personally like about knitting blogs. There are some beautiful writers out there, also some amazing knitters, but the thing I love about going to other knitting blogs is just to look at what other people are knitting. Maybe it's the way the random ring works but I can't believe how many people knit socks! I've knit at least two pairs of socks but they are not my favorite thing to knit. I enjoy sites where people have FREE patterns, but I'm also willing to buy a pattern now and again if I like it. For instance, I love the Chic Knits site because she has great free patterns but also very simple classic designs that you can download for about 5 bucks. This week I downloaded the Felted Bucket Hat pattern. I have a load of scratchy burnt orange wool in my stash and I thought this would be a good first felting project for me. I can't see myself wearing a sweater of this yarn (even though I have pounds of it) so I was willing to buy this pattern to get the step by step process down.

I have to say too that I skim the writing in most blogs and am not interested in reading travelogues, kidologues or petolouges, not to say that those things are not good it's just that I'm only interested in the knitting. And I also bypass blogs that take way too long to download (still on dialup here). I'm hoping I'm able to set up my blog as a site that is a place where I personally would stay for at least one read through.

Hope you have a great day! sue

Spring Scarf!!

2006-04-21T06:25:00.000-05:00

A quick post because I have to go to work. I was surfing the knitting blogs this morning and found the pattern for my scarf! The crocheting was going badly, mostly because the hook was too small and the boucle cotton kept on splitting, so when I saw this simple knit scarf I thought, voila! this will work perfectly (and it's very cute).

I found it at the Blog "The Whole Ball of Yarn(s)" by Allison Campbell. I started the first pattern repeat this morning and like how it looks:

To get the pattern, go here: Spring Scarf

have a great day! sue

my mission statement

2006-04-20T19:11:00.000-05:00

OK, I promised a mission statement to help me with my yarn diet. Here we go:

Cloudheights Knits is a creative endeavor devoted to developing my potential as a knit designer. My mission is to apply innovative ideas and informed choices to improve my knowledge and enjoyment of knitwear design and be economical with time and resources. My motivation is based on spiritual goals and a healthy lifestyle. I also strive to encourage others to achieve their own personal and creative fulfillment. My motto is: Beautiful knitwear comes from inspiration combined with good planning and the right yarn.

Whoa is that pompous enough for you? Ok, so the translation is: learn how to knit first, plan a sweater before I buy yarn, and try not to work on more than 10 projects at a time!!! :-)

So much for my start as a knitwear entrepreneur. Now back to Picovoli.

Still haven't bought any yarn!! YEAH!

sue

Stashalong is bringing out the worst in me!

2006-04-16T06:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter for those who celebrate. I'm in my eighth year of being an ambivalent catholic, but I'll talk about that some other time. It's a long story. :-)

So when you do something different you usually get an emotional snapshot of who you are. I know I'm fanatical about my knitting but I didn't realize how much until I joined this Stashalong. I've been good, I haven't bought any yarn, although I still spend too much time looking at yarn in stores and online that I covet. But the actual knitting is going badly. I was on a roll finishing pieces that made me feel like I was kicking the "let's start a sweater" jones. This problem goes like this, and you all know it: Wow, that yarn is on sale, let's buy a pile: uh oh, i don't know what to make with it, let's look for a pattern: this one looks like it might work, if I re-gauge it and change the neckline and do a different pattern stitch: OK, let's start knitting, Oh God it looks horrible and I'm getting bored - then I throw it on the stash pile and start something else.

Since I started Stashalong, I've been working on nine different sweaters and a scarf with no progress on any of them. It's almost like I have to do my homework and I'm not playing. Each of these projects excited me when I started them, but the idea that I can't start anything new until I finish something old that's on the pile is getting me cranky!! :-) Is this the knitting version of detox? I have experience detoxing from an addictive substance and it feels the same! So although we joke about "12-step programs for compulsive knitters" maybe there is something to it. It's not so much that you are depriving yourself of the substance that gives you a high, it's more that there are compulsive behaviors that rear their ugly head and impede our ability to carry creative thinking to a natural conclusion.

I don't want to mimic a recovery system and say you need to work "steps" to break these bad habits but I think a good start is a mission statement.

Ok, since I'm writing this as I think, I'm going to work a little bit of research and then post later about how to write a "Knitting Mission Statement."

stay tuned, sue

Stashalong

2006-04-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

Happy April!!

We are having gorgeous weather here in Ithaca today. It brings hope that the long winter is over but you have to be cautious. Sometimes it still snows in April in Ithaca!!

I've decided to join the Stashalong. I am a yarn addict. I admit it. I have not been able to control myself in buying yarn even though I am completely poor and in debt after putting my brilliant daughter through college. I don't regret one penny but I realize continually buying yarn on credit is so stupid I need a program. Stashalongs should be categorized under other 12-step programs, in my opinon. :-)

So I have this boucle cotton yarn that I bought on sale at Michael's and I want a lineny look scarf to wear this spring. I found a pattern but it's in CROCHET!! You have no idea how long it's been since I crocheted anything (has to be since the late 80s) but when I did a swatch I realized I basically remember how to do it and this is a fairly simple pattern. It's from the VK Spring 2005.

So my goal is to not buy yarn till at least May 1. Believe me I have more than enough backed up projects to keep me busy.

Hope you are enjoying a nice day today. Later I'll tell you about the Joni wig I'm making for Only Joni Open Mic on Wed.

seeya, sue

Finished Today: Houndstooth

2006-03-18T20:25:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patty's Day. Although I had a great day watching the Dragon at Cornell, I'd have to say my daughter Kate had a better day going to see The Pogues in NYC. That must have been a great hangover!!! :-)

Christmas 2004 Joe got me a $100 gift certificate to JoAnns fabrics so I could buy yarn. I'm ashamed to say the first thought I had was "oh no, not JoAnns!" No offense but there are two great yarn shops in Ithaca that would have made me much happier. Never mind, yarn is yarn, so I went and bought 12 balls of this kool wool yarn I had been eyeing (10 grass, 2 charcoal). I wanted to do a sweater in this houndstooth pattern from a sweater in VK Fall 1984.

So here is my new design: a conglomerate of a couple of vintage patterns from the ‘80s. I created this sweater with the idea of keeping the spirit of big block prints without the boxy silhouettes of the yuppie age. I also loved the ribbed boatnet with drop shoulder sleeves. So I ran out of the grass on the first sleeve and had to go on a search for three more skeins. thank you ebay!!

I will work on pattern instructions for this for the first pdf on my free patterns link.

seeya, sue

My Blue Shrug

2006-03-04T20:21:00.000-05:00

I finished my shrug today and have taken some crappy cell phone pictures to let you see the results.

Whoa, I'm getting serious love handles!! You know why? Because I don't exercise AT ALL!!! I'm going to try and remedy this next week when I start my Wellness program at Cornell. I'm going to start by swimming laps and doing an elliptical (whatever that is). I also want to take some Yoga and Jazzercize classes. This is something I really don't want to do but every one I know says it's a good idea. I'll let you know if it works. I realize it's hard to just diet because I love to EAT! My friend took me to lunch today and I had this scrumptious peach berry tart with whipped cream for dessert. MMmmmmmmm!@ Oh well. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

take care, sue

No medals for me

2006-03-03T06:45:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I know it's been a while since I posted. To make a long story short I bolted out of Ithaca on my birthday (feb 16) to visit my brother Jimmy in Raleigh. We had so much fun for four days. While I was there my nephew Brendan was coughing like he had the black lung and I knew I was going to get sick. The first day back into Ithaca my throat starting hurting bad and I ended up with a horrible cold that lasted a week. Needless to say my olympic knitting project was waylayed. Here is how much I finished by Feb 26:

Since I'm out of the running, I went back to another UFO (unfinished object) that was close to completion - an Angel Hair Shrug (in almost the exact same color as the zen sweater). Angel Hair from Sensations was on sale at JoAnn fabrics a while back and I loved the softness of this yarn. It might pill like a bitch but I think it will look nice.

I used a free pattern off the lion brand site. You can download it here:

Fringed Shrug

I changed the pattern a bit by placing the increases in a garter stitch edging and making the body stockinette. Also, I'm not adding the fringe. I wanted to highlight the softness of the yarn.

Well I'm looking forward to the first weekend in 3 weeks where I can just relax and knit. I'm really close to finishing the shrug so I can wear it next week. It's FREEZING here (we got 9 inches of snow yesterday).

thanks for reading. take care, sue

Dense Clouds, No Rain

2006-02-12T07:39:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday so I want to get back to the conversation of creativity and spirituality which is part of the theme of this blog. I practice I Ching as a philosophy that focuses my spiritual meditation. One of the aspects of I Ching that is attractive to me is its foundation in taoist philosophy of yin-yang, action/non-action. In trying to be spiritually healthy, I try to strive for balance. I have a tendancy in my personality to feel as if any problem I come up against I need to act on immediately. The I Ching readings give me a perspective that shows the wisdom in waiting, contemplating, listening (especially to my inner voice), and also when to act and when not to act. The main idea is to follow the good, and disclose the workings of EGO, which sometimes acts as The Wizard of Oz and can be shown through practice as not the most important aspect of my personality (like when Toto pulled back the curtain).

Today, I asked the I Ching about my path to creativity and what the image of my path in that direction is. I received Hex 9: The Taming Power of the Small with no lines. For more information about the I Ching and how it works you can check out this website: Online Clarity. This is the second time this week I received Hex 9 without lines.

The hexagram image is a gentle wind above heaven, the creative. the judgment says: The taming power of the small has success. Dense clouds, no rain from our western region. The image description is: The wind drives across heaven: the image of the taming power of the small. Thus the superior man refines the outward aspect of his nature. (wilhelm translation: pg. 40-41)

To comprehend the meaning I refer to two more books. I use R. L. Wing's I Ching Notebook, especially when I get a hexagram with no lines. Getting no lines usually means the situation is static and will stay unchanged for a period of time. Wing says: Strength is restrained in the lower trigram of human affairs and can create only small and gentle effects. The hexagram in its unchanging form suggests that the object of your inquiry is blocked by a small yet permanent influence. Nothing can be done externally. Salvation, if it exists, lies in work on the Self. Refine your impulses and desires.

Sounds harsh, huh. Let's check another book I refer to, Carol Anthony's Guide to the I Ching. She says: One more step in the process of correcting the situation has been completed. The temptation always exist to abandon self-discipline. Particularly after small victories our inferiors (those small voices inside you that whine about not getting their way) ask: "May I relax now? When am I going to be able to enjoy myself?" Anthony interprets that not only is final victory impossible now, but ambition would exert a negative pressure.

So I sit back and think about this and I see that even though I'm excited about the prospect of getting back to painting and designing sweaters, I need to do the work to get any significant results. But the good news is, it's not a process that means you have to whip yourself, it is gentle like a cool breeze against your back that helps you to walk through the process. The key is to stay in the moment and enjoy the creative work, the first step, the first stitch, the first brush stroke. The salvation comes when I get into that zone of creativity where there is no time and the work nourishes me. I've been in that place before and I love it.

happy sunday!! sue

Let the Games Begin!!

2006-02-11T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well, like a cocky figure skater trying a triple lutz right out of the gate, I caught my toe at lift off and made an embarrasing sliding crash on to the ice. I prepared my swatch and my schematic to precision and then got the measurements all wrong.

Let's start from the beginning. I arrived at my local knitting shop, Knitting etc. at 6:00 (this was late into their 2:00-7:00 Olympic cast-on party). I had my eye on getting another ribbon yarn to start my sweater because the Lion Brand incredible was very stiff and I was wondering about wearability. Amy, nice shop person, showed me a cowled sleeveless sweater made in Berocco Zen and I loved it. I cast on a swatch of a shiny blue/matte grey and it was perfect. I cast on the desired stitches, met a bunch of nice people and ate scones and pineapple. I hated to leave at 7:00. So I paid more than I ever paid for yarn in my life and bought all 7 skeins of Zen in this pretty color. Here is my progress so far before the tragic exit onto the ice:

About 8:45 am EST I realized that I had the measurements all wrong on my schematic. If I continued in this way, the bust measurement would be a whopping 52 in!!!! Crash, burn, ice scrapes my face while all the world watches!! I redid my schematic and ventured on. I will go into the locker room and get bandaged up and wait for the next trial. For right now I have to pay some bills and do recycling. I will attempt my next cast-on later today.

Oh the agony of an olympian. Where's Bob McKay when you need him?

Sue

I've Joined the Knitting Olympics!!

2006-02-08T17:14:00.000-05:00

well, I tried to but I think I signed up too late. I'm thinking about going to the local knitting shop to cast on Friday night with other Olympians. We'll see.

Here is the pattern I've decided to take on. I have been collecting vintage Vogue Knitting magazines and I've been wanting to make this sweater for a while. It's from a 1960 Spring VK and calls for ribbon yarn.

I'm doing a swatch with Lion Brand Incredible color Blue Shades and the guage is matching perfectly. I just need to adjust the pattern for my size and I'm set to go.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

seeya, sue

Joni's Cat is sick!

2006-02-06T17:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, I'm really glad I decided not to go to the Joni tribute at Carnegie Hall. It turned out Joni didn't go because her cat was sick! Hope you are feeling better, kitty. Plus the joniListas at jmdl gave the show a lukewarm review so if they didn't like it, it must have really sucked!! Saved by the universe again!

Great news from my friend, Les Irvin, at the jmdl.com website. Since jonimitchell.com's creator Wally Breese's death in 2000, his friend Jim has been keeping the site going ... but recently he decided to turn the reins over to Les and his Joni Mitchell discussion list site (where my guitar site lives). So the jmdl site is now jonimitchell.com. I thought this was so wonderful at first, but then it hit me: my guitar site is now on the OFFICIAL Joni Mitchell website. Les also gave me a new email address: SueMc@jonimitchell.com HOW COOL IS THAT!!

Well if you like Joni and like to play guitar I want to give you an introduction to the way I started playing Joni. It began with the song People's Parties off the Court & Spark album. I found Howard Wright's tabulature on OLGA (the outlaw website: On-Line Guitar Archive) in open D tuning: DADF#AD I started to play and it was almost like my fairy godmother hit me on the head with her wand. It sounded wonderful. I was determined to get an archive going of just Joni's songs played as Joni plays them. If you are interested, go to the site at the new URL:

Joni Mitchell Guitar Database

Listen to an mp3 of me playing People's Parties at the 2002 Jonifest at this site. It also includes my versions of an unreleased song, Come to the Sunshine, and Jericho:

Moon Over Joni

seeya, Sue

my favorite poncho

2006-01-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

Last spring I was in AC Moore and they had this great yarn 50% off: Gedifra Distrato. It was in my favorite colors; yellow ochre, burnt orange, and brown with alternating stripes of cotton/rayon and fur, very yummy and soft. I paid 3.50 a skein, and bought all of the skeins that were left (9 or 10 as I recall). I ripped a free poncho pattern off the rack and designed a poncho that is two rectangles sewn together. I alternated stockinette for the fur stripe with a simple lace pattern for the cotton. After I sewed the rectangles together I made a fringe with just the cotton part of the yarn. Here is a nasty cell phone picture of my nice poncho:

This yarn is always on ebay and if you can get it for under $5 it's a steal.

I will post a nicer picture and a pattern to download when I get my birthday present!

have fun today, Sue

Knit with me: A twin set

2006-01-20T05:28:00.000-05:00

About a year ago I bought a dozen skeins of Peer Gynt dk in an oatmeal tweed color. I bought it specifically for a cabled pullover from VK (can't remember the issue now). Well, I started the sweater but after a while the pattern became confusing and didn't look as intricate as it did in the photo, so I gave up on it. I've been wanting to make a nice twin set to wear to work and as I surfed the knitting web magazines I came upon two patterns that I think will go great together. The first one I found was at MagKnits, a t-shirt pattern by Grumperina.

Picovoli by Grumperina

I ordered the yarn Shine in cream from knitpicks for this t-shirt since it needs a bit of stretch (look at those boobs, that's the best part about this top, how flattering it is to boobacious babes). I received the yarn yesterday (my first purchase from knitpicks) and it matches the oatmeal yarn PERFECTLY! That's a good sign.

Next, I found a very nice cardigan at knitty.com called Bristow.

Bristow by Melanie Gibbons

I'm hoping that the pattern on this cardigan flatters the oatmeal tweed yarn. I've started the back and I love the brown flecks. The yarn is slightly scratchy but not too bad. I'm feeling good about this project.

The photo problem is basically fixed but I realize that my nasty cell phone shots are ugly (plus it looks stupid when you have the cellphone covering the sweater!! So I'm going to try and get a reasonably priced digital camera for my birthday. That will be a good investment when I start posting my paintings and patterns.

Yeah, it's Saturday. I'm hibernating today with my knitting and a book I picked up at the Cornell library called "The Artist and the Emotional World."

take care, sue

Still working on photos

2006-01-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

That's me!! Yeah!!

Well that didn't work

2006-01-19T10:25:00.000-05:00

Ok, let's try it a different way. With a gif file:

Having Trouble with Pictures

2006-01-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I'm going to try to upload some pictures directly into the blog post, because I can't do it through my profile. Something about this blogsite not being Mac compatible!! How is that possible in this day and age? Don't get me started...

here is a shot of my Cornell yearbook photo (i didn't order any shots so this is the proof). I graduated as a late bloomer from Cornell University in 2005 with a BS in Sociology. What a great experience. I'm an Ivy Leaguer Now!!

Also, here is a muff that I made for Rachel for Christmas from Knit.1 men's issue.

Well, if you come to my blog, let me know if you see my pics.

new thoughts about a creativity magazine

2006-01-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

Hi,

As I said, the ideas for the blog, website, podcast focus changes every day. I wrote my sister Patty who is a webmistress and teaches web at a prep school in PA. Here are some of the ideas I jotted down for her input:

I'm trying to revive my "creativity" and I've noticed some really interesting Blog sites where people seem to actually be making money from their specific art. Since I'm all over the map (i'm not sure whether I'm a musician, an artist, or a knitwear designer!) I thought, hell, why don't I just do a website magazine where I just practice being creative in whatever hits me. I've already picked out a name "Cloud Heights" which relates to an I Ching reading that says:

The wild goose gradually draws near the clouds heights.
Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance.
Good fortune.

Would you be interested in helping me create this website? I not only want to talk about art and creativity but also do a section on spirituality. There could also be a "Joe Corner" where we could publish some of his writings.

Here's another twist. I want to start a podcast that would be associated with my guitar site. I got some breaking news last week. The website where my guitar site is housed is going to become the official Joni Mitchell webiste (jonimitchell.com). This is pretty huge so this may also bring a lot of hits to my creativity site.

Let me know what you think. Maybe Sara can help, too! Maybe we can have fashion and culinary tips from Kate. Maybe we can post some of your photos for sale. MBs jewelry. A Percolators CD. It could be anything that works ... freeflowing creativity ...

thinking about this is really exciting.

sue

Music for Youth Joni Mitchell Tribute at Carnegie Hall

2006-01-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

Hello,

I am very excited to get my tickets for this event which is happening on Feb 1. Here is the URL:

http://www.musicforyouth.org/joni/index.htm

I hope to meet up with my other Joniphile friends and as usual hope for a SIQUOMB siting. Or maybe this time I'll finally meet her! I'm not getting my hopes up on that one. Just hoping I can get there and the tickets aren't sold out yet.

Sue

My Joni Mitchell Guitar Site

2006-01-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

Several years ago I started a Joni Mitchell Guitar site in conjunction with the Joni Mitchell Discussion List website. I worked with three other musicians to build this thing into a monster database of Joni's tabs. What is very interesting about this site is it teaches the musical student how to acurately play the song in Joni's original alternate tunings. I'm very proud of this site so if you would like to check it out, go here:

http://www.jmdl.com/guitar/

I have ideas about someday doing a podcast related to Joni's music, but I'm not sure how to do that yet so I'll continue to explore.

sue