Author: Sally

It has been a busy day with lots of having to be done for work. I had planned to do some of the pretty jacket but instead decided to attend to a UFO!

I have been knitting an afghan for a couple of years and I am really disliking every moment of it. First of all it is on size US 17 needles which are not my favourite size needles at all, lets try anything from US7 and smaller. It is also going to be 45 in wide by 60 in long so rather large in size and of course heavy as I use more and more yarn.

Alan asked me this evening what it was, and who it was for… I told him it was his afghan and he then asked if he would get it this winter. There are five balls of yarn to knit, and it is being knitted double so if I concentrate on this he may get it before the end of this winter. This will be the first and only afghan I ever knit with size US17 needles and double worcested weight yarn.

Good night from Folsom

I have made three little articles on www.Squidoo.com  about knitting. All are under the heading of art. Lace Knitting, Socks and Knitting Sweaters. I have included books that I thought were good ideas, some great videos that I have found on other sites, and some websites that offer ideas on knitting and also yarn for sale etc.

Have a look tell me what you think by rating them please.

I wonder why the weekend has the two shortest days in the week?

Had a lovely time with my knitting friends yesterday covering all sorts of topics at lunch.  The Obama’s were discussed at great length focusing mainly it seems on their fashion sense! Then it was off to the important stuff browsing the new knitting magazines, having coffee and knitting for about two hours.  Two ladies were knitting hats, two were doing scarves and two of us were doing jackets.

I came home and decided to attempt to complete the first sleeve of the cardigan I am doing. By 7pm the sleeve was done and I started the left front. Providing the lace pattern on the front works I will share the pattern and yarn with you later. It is a Plymouth pattern and the last two Plymouth patterns I have knit have been completely full of errors.

Some ladies I know have a knitting group which meets in Folsom during the day. I think it might be fun to catch up with them this week and see what they are knitting at the moment.

Stitches West is not too far away now.  I was not able to go last year because working in the yarn store meant no time off for fun things during the week. This year I think I will try and go on the Friday as weekends are far too crowded when going for just one day. Will see if one of my knitting friends would like to share the price of gas with me and if not I will take my husband along for company.

I love meeting my knitting friends for lunch on Sundays. Nothing is more relaxing then spending a while of over lunch catching up on everyone’s news or gossip depending how it sounds to people listening in! From the restaurant we head to a local book store hoping to find a table where we can sit and knit with coffee in hand for a couple of hours.

Interestingly we all take a small project to knit. Something that we do not have to concentrate on so that we can chat and laugh together instead. Last week I took a sock as I am getting more confident about knitting those and talking at the same time.

This week I am going to take a sleeve to knit for a cardigan I just started. The back and two sleeves are just stocking stitch so apart from keeping track of the rows it is pretty mindless knitting. I have completed the back and am half way up the first sleeve.

Well had better pack my knitting bag for my lunch time outing.

Have a great day

Good morning,

Naturally like any “normal” knitter I have several things on needles but I am trying to complete a couple of things quickly so some will be UFO’s for a little longer.

One of the most pleasurable items I have on needles is the Hydrangea Lace Scarf by Eugene Beugler. I am using size 4 addi turbo lace needles and the yarn I have chosen is from Barefoot Alpaca Farm at Grass Valley in California.

It is lace weight Suri Alpaca in a natural brown colour and it is absolutely a joy to have it running through my fingers each time I pick up the needles. Eugene’s pattern has a wide and a narrow scarf, and I decided to do the wide one as I have so much of the alpaca to use.

Recently I discovered the Heirloom Knitting site in the UK and I have purchased a Hap Shawl Kit from them as well as two books and three other shawl patterns. If you enjoy lace knitting especially Shetland, you would really like the website for the patterns and yarn.

Sharon and Michael do a great job on mailing their products around the world and it is a pleasure to do business with them. Sharon’s research and historical knowledge about the lace and the area where it was so popular makes each pattern and book even more interesting.

Yes, that is a BIG cat