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…Except we didn’t go to the pool! It is windy and a bit chilly because we are expecting the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto. So, the last knit night at the pool was a non-pool night, sadly the last one of the summer. We were lucky this year, though; we only had to miss one other Thursday due to the weather.

So here is the beginning of my latest purple hat! Yeah I know, not much to look at, but it will be interesting to see how it comes out. This time I’m using the Fiber Trends AC-02 pattern, which is done with one strand instead of two. So far, it looks HUGE and I am wondering how it will turn out.

The hat will be purple except for at the beginning of the crown, where I will be knitting straight rounds for a long time, I plan to incorporate a striped pattern using six colors. I had no idea what to do, because I don’t really want to do symmetrical stripes, but how to figure it out? Then I found the Random Stripe Generator! What a cool tool this is, and the possibilities are endless. I’ve already saved a few options to refer to later, because of course, every time you run the generator, it produces different results. But hey, that makes it like a fun surprise every time, and that’s cool!

Rhoda and I plan to get together at least a couple times a month now. I’m so glad to have a new knitting friend. This summer, for me, has been one of the best ever.

Ciao for now…

Ho hum… It’s the end of summer and I am totally bummed. This week will be the last week of knitting by the pool with my Thursday night knitting buddy, and I am not looking forward to the good time coming to an end.

We have decided to try to get together at least a couple of times a month in the off season, so I am looklng forward to that! This is the first time I’ve had knitting time with someone on a consistent basis, and it’s been fun!

The dishcloth is done! I’m calling it the "Pride Cloth" and I think my friend Carrie in Denver needs to have it. If anybody can make excellent use of a purple dishcloth I am sure that Carrie is the one.

I cast on for a new hat this week; no photos yet, but this one is different! To date my felt hats have all been made with two strands of yarn, and this is the first one I’ve ever done with one strand. I plan to do a multicolored hat band at the beginning of the crown, which I hope will come out well. Hopefully I’ll post more photos soon; I just have to get used to my new camera!

The dishcloth is almost done! I’m really enjoying it. So much that it will definitely not be my last! I’m calling this one the “Pride Cloth,” and I’m sending it along to my friend Carrie when it’s done. I’d bet that if anybody has use for a lavendar dishcloth in the kitchen it would be Carrie! Haha. I do love this design, which is known as the “ball band cloth” and is featured in the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I love this book! It has lots of neat new things to do with my knitting. I always love something new to try, and this dishcloth has been a winner!

And Just HOW Much Am I Loving Dishcloths?

Today my knititng buddy Rhoda sent me an e-mail about a fabulous sale at AC Moore on the Sugar’n Cream cotton yarn. I never before would have thought of ever buying the stuff until Rhoda introduced me to the fun of dishcloths. For some reason, I was attracted to the bright colors today, and I came home with this lovely rainbow! I can just imagine all of the color combos I might try to do. And at under a dollar per ball, how can I lose? Even if it turns out to be not much more than a playful experiment, it will be fun trying to make some cute designs.

I’m tellin’ ya, the last week or so has been beastly! Hence it drained my energy horribly and I literally had nothing left in me to devote to the blog. Then on Thursday of last week, when it was just too beastly to knit at the pool, Rhoda and I decided to meet in my house instead. She surprised me with two balls of cotton yarn, one Peaches & Creme and one Sugar’n Cream. In my favorite colors! I don’t think I knew before that night that Rhoda is also a fan of purple. It must be fate.

To tell you that I’m not an ouright fan of dishcloth knitting is probably an understatement. But then I got the Mason Dixon Knitting book and I knew this was something I had to try! For the life of me after reading and reading and reading the pattern, I couldn’t figure out how they got that woven potholder effect. But Rhoda was right, sometimes you just have to try something to see how it’s going to work. So she cast on for me and off I went! Duh… the effect is accomplished by carrying the same slipped stitch up for several rows. Of course it seems obvious now, but I just couldn’t have figured it out before I actually started.

I’ll get back to my Shimmer Clapotis next week. For now, this is a nice break. Thanks, Rhoda!

Today was an all scarf day. I’ve been working hard on my Clapotis made from a single strand of KnitPicks Shimmer, because frankly, I’d like to get moving past the increase section. I’ve been working on it steadily for nearly two months and it’s still not wide enough for the summer shawl I want to make. But I measured it this morning and it’s finally getting close. Of course, it was probably a bit of a dumb idea to make this particular pattern out of a laceweight yarn, but then again, I would suppose that ANY shawl made with laceweight would have thousands and thousands of stitches. So, either way, I should have guessed that this one would take a while. Why oh why do I have to be the slowest knitter in the world?

There are so many things I’d really like to move on and do. I’m getting excited about trying log cabin knitting as described in the Mason Dixon Knits book. I literally have a whole tub of purple yarns that I think might look good all put together in an afghan. I knew I’d been saving them for something! My coworker gave them to me some time ago by now and I was never quite sure what to do with them but then I saw this book and it came to me. How cool!

Diana Makes Progress!

Yay! Diana is knitting again! She’s been watching my Thursday night knitting buddy and I as we sit under the canopy at the pool and knit the evening away. I think she’s been impressed by Rhoda’s projects and the fact that Rhoda actually completes things (whereas I have total kntter’s ADD and a finished object is a rarity for me!), and that has inspired Diana to pick up her knitting again. She was brave to try kntting two strands together for a first project, as it turns out that this particular yarn is fussy to work with and gets knotted up on itself very easily and is also prone to splitting. (I don’t remember what it is anymore, and Diana discarded the ball bands long ago.) I think it looks great for a very first project, fairly neat but just irregular enough to give it an artsy feel. Also, Genia, the lady who taught Diana to knit told her that mistkes are just artistic little places to add funky buttons, and she definitely wants to do this with her scarf. It surely will give the scarf that extra edge of personality. And she already can’t wait to wear it to school this fall, to show her friends. Maybe she’ll spark an interest in knitting. I hope she sticks with it this time, but I have new hope because it grew more in one day today than it has the whole time she’s been working on it.

And Diana thought I should be sure to include a picture of the scarf I’m making for Steven, which is red and blue, at his request, in honor of his two favorite engines–Thomas and James, of course! I’m knitting it in Brioche stitch, which is sturdy and warm, and alternating colors every two rows so I can carry the yarn along and not have to weave in a bunch of ends when I’m done.

Back to the Thursday Night Knit for a sec… I just want to say that I am really loving getting to know Rhoda, and really loving having someone to knit with! And she always has fun things to share and show! This week she brought a finished Booga Bag, made mostly from Cascade 220 with a center band of coordinating Noro Kureyon. I never would have thought of doing it that way but it sure did turn out cute.

The Best surprise of all was that Rhoda brought a copy of The Principles of Knitting, which she was able to borrow from the libary where she volunteers. Wow! I have heard so much about this book over the years but have never actually seen one. Current prices on Amazon used books are $244 and up! I understand that this book is really sought after, but I can’t imagine that anyone would ever actually pay that much! But it is very big, and full of information. I have lots of reading to do this week! Thanks, Rhoda!!

Yesterday when I arrived at work my co-worker Michele surprised me with these! Hand crocheted with love, and purple! (of course…)

The fit is very comfortable and she did a great job of guessing my size. I can tell that when winter comes I am going to get lots of use out of these! I will have no excuse for cold feet any longer.

Thanks, Michele!! You’re the best!

This past fall I helped Michele as she learned to knit. I introduced her to the craft and she took to it quickly and has already made many beautiful things. I’m glad that knitting has renewed her interest in crocheting and expanded her interest in trying other wonderful crafts. Most of all, I love having the occasion to be a beneficiary of her efforts!! <smile> These purple slippers did make my day yesterday.

KnitPicks Options Photo Essay

Yesterday when we got home from work, we discovered that my birthday gift from DH and kids finally arrived! Yes, I’m on the KnitPicks Options Bandwagon! The kit contains needles in sizes 4 to 11, with other sizes available. I haven’t knit with them yet, but can’t wait to start. Here’s a photo of the snazzy needle case.

Here’s a shot of the case laying open, with the needle pouches visible. Of course I had to go and order the needle sizer immediately, because I took all of the needles off their shipping card so quickly that I may have mixed them up! Perhaps it is my only complaint so far that the needles are not marked in any way.

Here’s a pic of the needle tips. I do love them though some people have complained that the neelde tips can feel a bit sharp. I think I’m going to like them; they fit well in my hand.

Here Diana demonstrates inserting the tightening key when putting the needles together. She needs a manicure! I can see myself losing the “key” because it is tiny but it is about the width of a sturdy paper clip. Notice of course that the cables are purple!!

Seriously, I can’t wait to knit with these babies. They are so light and fit so nicely in my hand. I can only hope that they’ll work as nicely as I think they will. Yay!