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Rather than try to catch up on several months of blogging that I just didn’t get to, I thought I’d post a few pictures.

Tasha loves the snow.

She is built for it. She is downright joyful in it - galloping about, wading it in with her nose down deep to lead the way, even performing impressive vertical leaps, as if to say, “isn’t this fantastic?!” I think she looks quite beautiful in the snow.

She loves any and all cold weather, in fact. Sometimes she’d be outside for hours in the frigid cold and I’d get worried and go looking for her and find her napping in her favorite corner under those little evergreen trees where I pictured her in the last post. She would spot me and leap out in a small explosion of snow, pine needles, and fur and gallop up to the porch to meet me.

What a sweetie. There was lots of knitting this winter and even spinning! On a wheel! My fantastic Christmas present from my parents:

It is a Kromski Minstrel and I love it so. That’s not the greatest picture of the whole wheel but it is beautiful and I love spinning on it. I’m afraid I haven’t touched my spindles since Christmas but I’m sure I’ll come back to them too.

I knit Eunny Jang’s Ivy League Vest during a particular fair-isle phase.

I love it. I think it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever created. It’s knit from Knit Picks Palette yarn.

I’m a little bit sad that spring is here and I won’t be able to wear it as much!

That fair isle phase I mentioned also led to a number of hats. Two in particular from Anna Zilboorg’s fantastic book, 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit. I knit Beret #4 which turned out a bit baggy but I still like it:

After all, aren’t berets supposed to be a bit slouchy? I knit this with odds and ends of KnitPicks Swish Worsted, KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, and Cascade 220.

Such a pretty pattern.

I also knit Toque #1 from the same book:

So bright and cheerful on icky winter days!

This was knit with black KnitPicks Swish Worsted that I had left over and some hand dyed hand spun superwash wool.

Lovely. And here is the hat that started my fair isle phase:

It’s my little masterpiece! I knit and ripped this countless times. I always have a hard time getting gauge with fair isle. Plus I was making this up as I went along.

All of the different motifs came from The Knitting Stitch Bible by Maria Parry Jones. I especially love the snowflakes.

I made up the top as I went along and it turned out pretty nice:

There was a bit near the bottom where I had three colors at once. The finished effect is lovely but I’m pretty sure I’ll NEVER be doing that again.

I started with some plain knit rows then a purl to create a folding edge and then later sewed under that initial flap. The slightly flared flapper-ish shape was totally unintentional but I love it and think it is rather flattering.

Knit with leftovers of handspun and Classic Elite Inca Alpaca.  Also notice the hand dyed, hand spun, hand knit Clapotis style scarf!

Oh, and I have to show you all this one since I blogged about it when it began. My Kauni Lady Eleanor Stole:

What a fantastic yarn!

Love it.

There also was plenty of holiday knitting. Mittens for my Canadian nephews:

A stocking cap for Stephen:

Ginormous socks for my step-son Jeffrey:

Gloves for Dad:

A stocking cap for my future brother in law, Jason:

And the popular Lace Ribbon Scarf for Mom:

I think the reason I had several successful and completed holiday knits this year was that I didn’t try to do hand knits for every single person on my list.  It’s just not reasonable, at least not for me, so we spent some cash and I wasn’t stressed out and all was well.

There were some more odds and ends along the way but I think if I’m going to be a regular blogger, I need to not worry about blogging every single project. I tend to think I have to document every single thing which becomes burdensome and doesn’t get done and then it builds up and soon the prospect is overwhelming so I don’t blog for months. So what I think I’ll do is give myself permission to not blog every project and to not document the details of every project. If you want details, they are on my Ravelry page.  I’m not saying I won’t post details at times but I’m going to try not to feel like I have to.  It’s my bit of OCD and I already do all of that on Ravelry (thank goodness for Ravelry!) so there is no reason to do it twice.

Tasha doesn’t mind all the knitting so long as she can snuggle up beside me and request belly rubs on occasion.

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So yesterday was a lovely sunny late afternoon and I noticed that my Ravelry page was lacking pictures for a bunch of projects so I gathered a bunch of stuff together and got my camera and went out to the front porch.  Tasha came with me since she comes with me everywhere and I put her on the lead we have out front.

I started the Wallis Cardigan way back on our honeymoon before getting sidelined with other projects but I plan to finish it up soon.  See how far I’ve come already?

What’s that? You can’t see it? Hmm, perhaps the photographer’s assistant is in the way. Here, let’s try this one:

Nope, still seems to be a bit obstructed. Tasha, could you get out of the way please?

Well, you can sorta see it there, maybe she’s moving out of the way …

Nope. She was rearranging it. What a hands on assistant! She really is sweet, she just wants to be involved in everything I’m doing. She sits with me on the couch and if I pull out a new knitting project, she’ll sniff it thoroughly before settling back into her lounging position. I did eventually get this picture of the back (slightly scrunched):

And the fronts in progress:

I just love the edging on this cardigan with it’s pretty double knit welts:

Meanwhile, Tasha, worn out from all that assisting, is lounging:

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Well, it only took me two years but I have finished recording Anne of Green Gables!  It’s a bit embarrassing that it took me so long but I’ve had a busy two years with meeting Stephen, finishing my master’s degree, battling Meniere’s Disease, getting engaged and married, and buying a house.  I feel somehow like I became an adult in the last two years if that makes sense.

Anyhow, I’ve podcasted chapters 36 and 37 and 38 will be up tomorrow.  I thought about spacing them out a bit more but figured I’ve made folks wait long enough!  Cataloging at LibriVox is in the works and a complete Zip file of all chapters will be available soon.

So as for what is next with the podcast, I’d like to get a good chunk more recording done before I start releasing more chapters.  Once I’m confident I can release on a regular basis, the podcast will start up again.  I’ll continue with the next Anne book by L. M. Montgomery - Anne of Avonlea.  I’ve also begun recording a duet with Kara of Emma by Jane Austen.  We will trade off chapters and I will likely podcast that at some point as well.

Life in general has settled in which is really nice.  My health is the best it has been in years.  I found out that I had a bad Vitamin D deficiency which was likely causing a lot of my fatigue and weak immune system and once I had supplements for that I started to bounce back.  Our new house is beautiful and I’m really enjoying the yard and learning how to do some gardening.  One of my favorite things about the house is this beauty who came with it:

Her name is Tasha and she is a Keeshond - a lovely arctic breed that I hadn’t heard of before.  We bought the house from a nice gentleman named Bill and it turned out he can’t have dogs in his new apartment.  We had been planning on getting a dog as soon as we had a house and fell in love with Tasha when we first saw the house.  We wrote in the contract that if Bill couldn’t keep Tasha that we’d love to take care of her.  We were half joking but when it turned out that he couldn’t keep her, everything fell into place.  She is the sweetest, most loving dog I’ve ever known and I think we are good for each other.  We get out and walk every morning and she is constant company and entertainment.

I haven’t been knitting a whole lot lately with the wedding, move, and summer heat but I think I’ll have more time now to devote to knitting and knit-blogging both.  So stay tuned and thanks for your patience to my podcast listeners!

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It often surprises me to realize who visits my blog and how they know me through what I write (and knit!). Last night at our rehearsal dinner, Stephen’s uncle Eddie mentioned in a toast that even though he’d only met be briefly last summer, he felt like he’d gotten to know me by reading my blog!

Yup, that’s right, today’s the day! I decided that I’m taking it easy this morning and early afternoon. It’s a matter of pacing myself for all the events this afternoon and evening. So in light of the blog being sadly negelected lately and the realization that more people than I knew have been following it, I figured it is time for an update.

I finished my Queen Coriolis socks:

The yarn is Opal Rainforest in the “Schmetterling” or butterfly colorway. The pattern is the Coriolis sock from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I love how this pattern looks but it was difficult to get the fit just right. The nature of the band traveling across the ankle tends to reduce the elasticity of the sock right at the spot where it needs to be plenty elastic. But, I got it figured out and I’m excited to try some different “sockitechtures” she has suggested!

Oh, by the way, there were at least two other knitters present at the rehearsal dinner last night! My Aunt Beth from Arkansas finished a pair of socks on the drive up here. And Kurt, a longtime family friends who is now a judge and will be performing the ceremony, was most recently knitting on a sweater for his youngest daughter. Yea knitters!

I finished Julia’s Bobbley Scarf a while back! Remember the Bobbley Hat?

Well, this scarf is the hat’s companion. It is very looooong.

It’s bit less cabley but still very bobbley. This was one of those zen projects that once I memorized the pattern, I could just go and go and go. The yarn for the hat and scarf was Knit Picks Wool of the Andes - a great sturdy worsted wool yarn.

I also made the Frock Camisole by Katie Himmelberg from the Spring Interweave Knits for Julia for her birthday:

This yarn is Berocco Comfort which is good for gift knitting since its safe to go through the wash but I probably wouldn’t pick it for myself, I’ve gotten so used to natural fibers now that knitting with a nylon/acrylic blend felt weird on my hands. I don’t know if that makes sense but I suspect other knitters will understand! But the blue is lovely and the style is very flattering on Julia.

I made some cute cotton coasters a couple months back for my Aunts Lorie and Libby who threw my wedding shower:

As usual, Peaches and Creme worsted weight cotton. I’m told they are very absorbent! There have also been yet more Ballband Dishcloths for my fauncy aunt Becky and cousin Amy, also in Peaches and Creme:

It’s amazing what a hit these simple dishrags are, they are perfect gift knitting in my mind. I’ve also done plenty of knitting for myself. For instance, my Pretty Pink Picot Pullover:

The yarn is Dream in Color’s Classy and the colorway is Petal Shower. I used my Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd and did the set in sleeve with V neck template. I knit this up in no time at all. I loooove it.

Of course I was only able to wear it a few times before it got too warm but I’m already looking forward to wearing it next fall and winter. Click and zoom in to see the neckline better, it’s a twisted rib collar.

Okay, time to get moving here but it feels good to get a bit caught up in blogland! I know I’ve neglected Anne of Green Gables lately but once I’m back from the honeymoon (few days at a B&B) it should be done soon.

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It is finished! This was a major project, Stephen wanted a heavy duty jacket type sweater and that’s what he got. So, here is the basic template, a fleece zip up that Stephen liked in terms of its basic shape and style:

He decided he wanted it in black Alpaca yarn and super thick. I ended up knitting with Misti Alpaca’s Worsted Weight with two strands held together. Stephen is thrilled with it and can’t believe how warm and heavy it is. I’m pleased with how it turned out, it looks so nice and professional! Unless of course you look at the inside where I sewed in the lining by hand:

I’ll get a sewing machine eventually but in the meantime this got the job done. I decided to line it because the alpaca is so fuzzy and sheds so much. Plus I figure that the lining will help the knit fabric keep its shape over time. Those are pockets sewn into the lining by the way. I’ve never really learned how to sew so I was just winging it with all the finishing details. For the pockets I left parts of the sides unseamed and sewed them in there.

I used Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and the set-in sleeve cardigan numbers for the pattern. I did K3, P3 ribbing at the hems.  The collar is double thick. I knit up a bunch of rows, then purled a turning row, and knit the same number of rows then sewed it down. It stands up nicely which was one of Stephen’s requests:

This thing was a whole lot of work but in the end, Stephen got exactly what he wanted and I think putting in the time to get it just right is the best kind of gift I can give.

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