Freeform tote bag

I'm not sure how long it's taken me to finish this bag, but I know I've had these freeform pieces for at least 5 or 6 years. They were going to be part of a sweater, but I decided that it was just a bit much for a garment. Recently, Agent Gray helped me decide to turn them into a bag.


Suddenly, yesterday became The Day That The Bag Would Be Finished. And it is. Like always when something is finally done, I wonder why I didn't just do it sooner.



The timing is good, though, because I'll get to take it as a sample for the freeform class I'm teaching tomorrow night at Cozy.
Particulars: Freeform is from cottons and acrylics, many of them novelties and variegated. The bag is ready made denim found at Michael's.

Giotto cardigan

Emma's sweater is all done! The buttons don't show up too well in the pics, but they have a nice subtle glittery detail that I love. The crocheted edge worked much better the second time, with fewer stitches. I may take the sweater with me tonight to crochet class to show how nicely crochet and knit can go together.




Joyce, if you look to the right in the picture, you can just make out Randy's picket fence on the other side of the house, behind the camellia bush!
Now, what's next? Think I'll tackle some of those projects that been in the "current projects" list for way too long............

On its way to Cozy........

This one's completely finished, and will soon be on display at Cozy. And the pattern is in the works. I've done a lot on it. Really.

button advice

It's a rough shot, but I'm too impatient to wait until this is completely finished to take a picture. The color is not true, but it's not too far off. There's more rosy purple in this sweater. Also, I'm having trouble with the crochet edging laying flat. I'll probably do it over, this time with fewer stitches.

But what about the buttons? They are hand made pottery buttons, purchased a few years ago from a local artist at the Eno Festival. They pick up the lighter colors in the yarn, and I like the triangle shapes. Any opinions? Would rounder and darker look better?

Sweater for Emma

I'm working on this sweater from the current issue of Knit Today magazine. There are a bunch of Colinette patterns in the issue, and this one uses Giotto. I already had the 2 hanks required, so I started right away. The body is finished and most of one sleeve as well, and I only started yesterday. These drop stitch patterns knit up very quickly! I think I'll have it finished in time to send to Emma with a little Easter surprise. Pictures coming soon-

here it is!

The buttons aren't sewn on, but here's how the sweater has turned out. Gotta get that pattern done now...............

knits in bloom

These pictures were taken a little early in the day for great sunlight, but they'll show a few things that are starting to bloom in my yard. Above, the sweater visits the candytuft that originated in my grandmother's yard. Some of it traveled to Wilmington to my mom's yard, and this one came from one of her plants. Hers is nicely arranged so that it borders the walkway to her house. This one is just a blob, but I guess that's kind of how I do things!

This picture has 3 things I want to show off. First, the sweater has its border and the beginning of it's first sleeve. Second, the forsythia is in bloom. Third, check out our cool fence! Randy replaced the weather-beaten fence that was here when we moved in, and he decided to make it more interesting. He cut each picket individually so that they would all be different. I think it's my favorite project that he's done so far.

finished squares

Yippee, the squares are done! No need to post the graph, here's everything. The slits in the upper half are the sleeve openings.
This picture shows how it folds into the shape of the sweater. I'll sew up the shoulder seams, then I'll pick up stitches for the sleeves and knit them to the cuff. To finish, I'll pick up stitches all the way around the neck, button bands, and bottom edges. Will probably do a reverse stockinette stitch border. OK, the writing of the pattern is getting closer. Can't put it off much longer............

squares

The modular sweater continues! Here are 15 squares out of a total of 30. I'll have to draw out my graph and post it next time. Right now, it's hard to look at this and tell that it will be a sweater, but it will.

March modular madness

These little squares are the beginning of a new pattern I'm working on for a baby/toddler sweater pattern. Doing the mitts pattern made me want to do more patterns, so here goes. A year or two ago I made a sweater similar to this one for my niece Emma, and it was so cute! Emma's cardigan used lots of different purples, pinks, and reds, and this one will only have the 2 colors that you can see, but I think it will still have it's charm. The yarn is Cascade's Sierra, a popular yarn for me these days!
So far I've only done the knitting, not any pattern writing. That's the part I always put off.

a great sock

I love Trekking sock yarn! This is one of the best feeling socks I've put on. It's knitted at 9 sts per inch, and that could have a lot to do with it. Notice that the second one is just barely started. But if I knit fast, I might be able to wear these before the warm weather settles in...........

one more pit picture

Oops, forgot one. "Still life with sock and viola." Notice the predominance of gray in the pit, the charming tape that holds down the carpet that they drag out to use in the pit for EVERY show, and the old drink stains on that carpet. It's a lovely work environment!

Superstar knitting

Last night the NCT production of Jesus Christ Superstar closed, and all that pit knitting came to an end as well. Out of 8 string players, 4 were knitters and one was a needle pointer. In the woodwinds, we had 2 more knitters! There was lots of knitting, including a modular felted bag, a beaded knitted scarf, a needle point Christmas stocking, a couple of socks, some drop-spindle spinning, and a pair of mitts. The mitts were mine, and they are pictured above on my music stand. Particulars: Malabrigo worsted wool, 5 sts to the inch, my own pattern, special order from Ariadna, my stand partner from Light in the Piazza.


Before I brought the camera, I finished Ben's Opal 6-ply socks, but didn't get a picture before I sent them home with his dad. This sock is the Trekking, still languishing on the needles. I really need to finish this pair of socks! The picture was taken on the conductor's stand. You can see his baton, and a little bit of the monitor in the upper part of the picture.
For this show, the orchestra was in a room underneath the stage instead of the orchestra pit. Our sound was wired up to the auditorium, and we relied heavily on monitors. The conductor used the monitor shown here to see the stage and there were 2 more upstairs facing the stage so that the actors could see and follow the conductor. I wished I could see one of the monitors, then I could have seen the show!
It all worked, but it's not ideal. Usually, the actors and orchestra feed off of each other's energy in a performance, making the show more dynamic and interesting. This isn't possible with the arrangement we had, and I don't think we'll be doing it again. Our conductor was mighty unhappy about the situation, and I think he'll do whatever he can to ensure that the orchestra is in the same room as the show in the future.