Jofrog is Knitfrog!
May 30 2004
My mom felted the baby sheep that I made for her for Mothers' Day and I got to see it last weekend at my shower. This little thing, excuse me large floppy thing, that I'd knit was felted, and felted, and felted, and felted, down to the cutest, densest, little lamby! No need for stuffing here, he's standing all on his own! It was a bit of a frenzied photo shoot, and little lamby knows how cute it is and was being quite a diva so this picture was the best we could do. Maybe he'll behave better once his mother is around, we'll have to wait and see. There are a lot of other Fiber Trends felted beasties on their way into the world. Julia is making a giraffe out of the llama pattern and someone else at Knitsmiths was doing the same. My next lamb will be out of Noro Kureon... I can hear the oohs and ahhs now. I just have to wait to borrow the pattern from my mom after she makes hers.If you Felt it Enough, Will it Eventually Dissapear?
May 27 2004
I finished up my first crochet project last night. Here it is, modeled by Mike's cabage patch kid Aidie, and on its own. I can't wait to try it on the seven month old recipiant Monday. (Pictures to come for sure.) After it was done I sat with my crochet teacher to try to figure out the crocheted portion on the Jo Sharp sweater... after lots of aggrevation we finally almost figured it out. Crocheting is definitely not coming to me as fast as knitting did. :-( AND it's not as pretty... what's the point?I came, I crocheted, I conquered
May 26 2004
Last Thursday was my mom's friend Denise's 50th birthday! Happy Birthday Denise! They were up to visit the weekend before Mothers' Day and Denise was raving over my hand knit socks. She especially loved the Opal Mexico socks that I had made super short for summer shoes. Because I'd made them so short, I was pretty sure that I would have enough to do another pair. (I sure do miss the days of being in a biochemistry lab where I could accurately weigh the yarn to tell!) I was also pretty sure that I could make a pair of socks in a week... there I was wrong. :-( So sadly no socks were presented to Denise on Sunday at my shower but they will be in the mail to her soon enough. That was #1 of Deadline knitting from last week. #2... lets just say that after some drama last night, it's back on track. Phew! I hope that your knitting is enjoyable and deadline free. In other news: I met another blogger at A Good Yarn yesterday. She's a newbie so be sure to go and say hello to Caren.Sadly No Socks
May 24 2004
I just got home from a wonderful weekend! Friday I picked up my bridesmaids, Allison and Miranda, and drove down to my mom's house for the weekend and to prepare for my wedding shower on Sunday. The girls did such an amazing job of planning and organizing everything. The food was incredible, almost everyone was able to come and we had a great time. Best of all we played games! Lots and lots of games! We played wedding scatergories with my initials, we played a grown up game of hot potato where you pass a box and unwrap layers until you get to the prize in the middle (a silver picture frame), everyone participated in writing a poem for us where they only got to read the line before theirs and not everything before that, we had a little pre-newleywed game where I had to match answers that Mike had provided to questions about himself or about us... and then, as if that wasn't enough, we had craft time! The party broke into groups and got materials to make their own tiaras and then I got to judge them. I took many pictures but got home too late last night to upload them. The tiaras were incredible, the day was incredible, thanks Miranda, Allison, Jenny, Mom, and Aunt Karen! I couldn't have had a better day.Wonderful Weekend
May 20 2004
So... last night was night two of crochet class... start your project. I had this cute idea for a little crocheted baseball cap for the little guy that I sit for. The other two women in the class decided to do hats too... I started mine, it was looking fine, it was looking fine, then not so much. I was on a roll, way into it, feeling good. We ripped back some, then all of the way. I preceded to start over one more time in class and then three more times at home! Arg! I WAS NOT HAPPY! Now that it's going well again I'm happy with it, and I kind of want to do that over my deadline knitting (big surprise there) but I still stand by my opening statement. Just because I can (and I'm very glad that I can now) doesn't mean I wanna!Just Because I CAN Doesn't Mean I Wanna!
May 19 2004
I couldn't post about this as I was making it, for obvious reasons, but it is way too cute to not post at all. My mom came to knitsmiths a while ago and saw a cute little felted lamb that someone else had made. She loved it so much and had asked me to get the pattern for her... I did one better. For Mothers' Day this year I made her this little guy. The pattern (#206x) is just ingenious. It is done with a lot of short rows and a lot of precision. It is definitely a pattern that you just have to trust and go with. There is no rationalizing it until it really starts to take shape. I gave it to her unfelted because I don't have a washer here and she felted it Mothers' Day weekend. I'll be sure to take pictures of it post felting this weekend while I'm at her house for my wedding shower! The pattern gives one set of directions that can be done in many different weights of yarn from DK to doubled chunky weight yarn. The yarn you use determines the finished size. I did hers in Cascade 220 and gave her some Soft Shetland to double for hers... that way the baby made the baby lamb and the mama can make the mama sheep... Feel free to "Awe" now.A Mothers' Day Present for my Mama
May 17 2004
Attention all current knitting projects, you are being put on hold! Deadline knitting has hit. One thing due by the end of this week and the other by the end of this month! Le sigh! If I'm good enough I may "allow" myself some knitting time on Grace and Pauline as well. Amazingly as soon as I started Pauline, Grace was much more manageable. I am no longer dreading the stockinette. I'm planning a few major changes on the front, stay posted to see how it works out!Deadline Knitting
May 13 2004
I took the first class of a three week learn to crochet class last night! I learned when I was very young but haven't touched a hook since (other than putting fringe on the scarves of my elementary school knitting class). Claire, from Knitsmiths, was teaching the class and this week we learned a variety of stitches and next week we'll start a project. I am waiting anxiously for Melisa to post a crocheted flip flop pattern... they might actually end up being my wedding day shoes! What fun would that be! Until the pattern is up I'm going to make a little crocheted baseball cap for the 6-month-old that I'm babysitting for. His hat is too small all of the sudden after an overnight growth spurt! Does this make me a hooker? What do they call a hooker in training? Don't worry, I'm sure that I won't be converting but this does open up the world to many patterns I hadn't consitered before. ...like this one!School Me Claire
May 11 2004
This Grace top from Knitty has me bored out of my gourd! Normally I'm not one to shun stockinette stitch but boy am I dreading each time I pick up this project. I think that I'm used to having a variety of different projects with different difficulty levels and although my sidebar seems to state otherwise Grace is all that I'm working on at the moment. Last night I pulled out all of my patterns and went through them to figure out what's next. I came up with three... two were winter sweaters and the third is Paulina. Today I went to my LYS and found Heirloom "Breeze" to substitute for the discontinued Smart Cotton and off I go. I'm already cast on and into the pattern. I'm enjoying it so far, but we'll see how long my fickle hands will stick to this. Happy Knitting all. Bored Out of My Gourd
May 10 2004
Two weeks ago I spent two nights at my wonderful friend Miranda's dojo. She has been practicing karate for almost all of the time that I've known her but I've never seen her in action. Miranda was up for her black belt review (a multiple day process) and Mike and I went to cheer her on. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen a friend do. Karate is so technical, while being beautiful, and dangerous and violent at the same time. I was amazed that my little friend could defend herself against large men and then adjust to working with small girls and women her size. It was just amazing. Kudos to Miranda for the immense amount of work that she has put into her karate career. Look here for a picture of her receiving her black belt from her primary instructors after passing her review. In knitting news... My ballerina top is done. I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but Allison has! Go check them out at www.knitsmiths.us.Miranda is Incredible
May 5 2004
Definitely don't think that I was dissing Debbie Bliss the other day. It was just a bit frustrating but I really love the yarn (Merino DK), I've had no knots in any of the balls that I've used, and the cotton angora that I'm using for the ballerina top is more than I could have asked for. I also really appreciate the fact that ALL of her yarns are machine washable. Great for kids or adults who refuse to hand wash (like my mom). **Love you Mom, happy almost Mothers' day.**One more thing
All of the sudden I'm so busy, never on a computer (some day I'll be online at home, but that day has not come yet), and have not been able to update here! Be assured, I have been knitting. I set aside that last half way done sleeve for the ballerina top and made the poncho from "The Knit Stitch" in three days. Yup, huge poncho, three days! I also started a new sock that is at the heel flap stage, maybe a picture of it soon... maybe! In non-knitting news, I've gone from a woman trying to finish her masters, to a very under-employed woman, to an over-extended woman doing everything that she wants to do... oh yeah, and I'm planning a wedding too! We just got back from the travel agent... Mayan Riviara, here we come... in 87 days! Hope all is going well out in blog land. Ahh so Busy!
