One of my latest projects is the stole from Elann.com. I am knitting mine in Cascades solid sock yarn. My daughter was kind enough to take time out of her hand sewing to hold a small portion of the stole to show its pattern. The color is Cerulean. I thought it would be a nice bright color. The pattern is easy, but if I drop one of the yarn overs from the previous row....I am in for it because I am not good at fixing yarn over errors.

Another thing I have been working on is practicing the concept of a top down sweater. Barbara G. Walker has a book called Knitting From The Top, that I have found most wonderful. Below is a practice yoke.

Below is the ribbing of a little hat that I am trying to write the pattern out for. I had a thought about a hat and knit one up and gave it away never dreaming of putting it on paper. So I decided to do another one and document the pattern in case I wanted to sell it.

Until Next Time. Stay warm. It is 15° here. The wind is howling.

I am sharing this picture of me with you for a couple of reasons.
#1. It really conveys "me". Blue jeans-sweat shirt. I had my blue hand knitted socks on too. I can and do wear other clothing to accommodate the occasion, but this is usually my default comfy clothes. The gray shirt is not the best choice for my hair color since it too is gray. I kind of just blend all together. I was practicing using the 'timed' pictures on my cell phone. Plus I need to practice being less vain by sharing photos like this.

#2. This picture was taken yesterday. In north-central Indiana. O.K.? Notice the absence of a winter coat. We have had an unseasonably mild winter so far. I was able to go baby sit and run errands and visit my mom all while wearing said shirt. At the time this picture was taken it was 51°. But I see in the forecast for today, rain and then the next three days, snow. So hopefully we will get back to normal. As nasty as some winter days can be I still like it.

The next picture is just for fun. It is Woody, of course, everybody's favorite little cowboy!

Until next time.

My Red Christmas Socks!

I finished my Christmas socks on New Year's Eve. I didn't anticipate it taking so long. The Cascade Heritage Paint sock yarn hank just has a lot on it!!! But it was worth the extra time to knit. They are actually just above my calf....knitted 'just so' so they will fit over said calf without cutting off my circulation!

I like them!

A Trip to Bloomington, Indiana

The day after Christmas, during the 4 days that Chris was home from working in New York, we were able to go down to Bloomington to visit with his son's family for a day. I say 'down' to Bloomington because it is south of us. If we were to visit Margaret's people in New Orleans, we would go 'down' south as well. And for all practical purposes I suppose all of those folks would visit us 'up' north. If we visit my cousin, Phil, in Arizona we would go 'out' west. It is interesting how we describe things. And heaven help the person who says they are going 'up' to Bloomington from here...because that is not happening. Well, anyway, enough of that. :)

Bloomington is a college town and home to Indiana University. Basically, it is in southern Indiana. Amanda drove Margaret and I to the downtown area to visit the yarn shop. We parked on the square. Downtown Bloomington. It was such a surprise.
It smelled SO good. Food. We breathed in that wonderful smell as we walked to the shop. The sign in the window said OPEN, but it wasn't. :(
So....next time we visit: I must find where that wonderful smell was coming from and partake thereof and stroll through the yarn shop and oooh and aaah and also partake thereof.

Margaret and Amanda outside the shop, Yarns Unlimited.

The exciting thing about this post is...the addition of a 'label' at the bottom...."YARN SHOPS".....it's plural. Thus begins my quest!

The Stripey Hat Revisited

See this Stripey Hat?

I had originally tagged it for charity. I showed it to Chris just in passing, during our whirlwind weekend. I told him it's destination. He said thought it would really look cute on one of the grand boys. Margaret and I had knit the older three hats a couple years ago and I didn't even imagine that this would fit the youngest -9 month old. So we took it to see if it would fit .
We could not get over how cute it looked on the him. He is absolutely adorable anyway and then the hat just put everything over the edge!

A Stripey Hat

I am still knitting the red socks. I took a break and knit this little hat. Cute enough isn't it? It will fit an older child I think.
It doesn't have a recipient. Nor does one of the EZ heart hats that my daughter made. The brown tweed wool hat I made last winter needs a home as well.
Well, I am not the brightest crayon in the box.....so it took me a bit to decide what to do with these hats. Give them to charity Lou. I read an article about orphans in a far away land and how a couple of ladies started a charity to collect knitted hats, gloves and scarves.
So into the charity box they go.
I will be able to post a picture soon of the beautiful red socks that are currently on my needles.
My Christmas present this year....is about 5'11'' and will be walking through back door in a day or so.......but he will only be here for a little while and we have lots of family to visit while he is here.

Oh and just to fill you in on the picture.....the musical one in the house is Margaret.
Keeping my eyes peeled for a used accordian.....she is quite intrigued by them.

Christmas Socks Received

The socks have arrived at their destination. Virginia.

Thanks United States Postal Service.

Christmas Socks

Chullo Hat Kits are on SALE at Knitpicks

Scroll down after going HERE to the chullo hat, red or grey, and buy one while they are on sale....Very good price.