As promised. . .

Here's a picture of my finished Juliet being worn!

I thought it would be something for transitioning from summer to fall, but I may find myself wearing it over a slim fitting knit top as in the picture. I quite like it!

My knitting queue for the winter seems to be getting longer. I need to stop looking at knitting books. There are a couple of things in the new IK that I will have to make. But the real kicker is the new pattern that Stitch Diva will be putting out soon. They sent a newsletter about it and I just have to have it! It is called Giselle and it was designed by Marnie Maclean.



I am particularly fond of the cropped version. This sweater just cries out to be knit in some type of silk--maybe Tilli Tomas. She does discount her stuff at Sheep & Wool, so I think I have a plan! Meanwhile, I am loving knitting the Tree Jacket. The yarn is like a dream!

The weather is turning colder. I am breaking out Sahara to wear for the first time tomorrow. Goody, goody!

Bushism of the day:
"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead." —George W. Bush, May 11, 2001

Kitty cam:
His Highness, Lord Harley sleeps on his pillow most of the day!


I guess he didn't appreciate my intruding upon his quiet time!

Another one bites the dust!

Another FO, that is! I finished Juliet last night. I even did the button loops, buttons and wove in the yarn tails! Here she is drying on the blocking board.

I will model her when she is dry. Here are the details:
Yarn: Cascade Venezia (bulky weight, 70% merino, 30% silk)
Color: White Heaven
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 10.5
Pattern: Zephyr Style Juliet, Size S
No modifications
Buttons: Mother of Pearl

I think this will be a very serviceable sweater. I wanted a neutral color cardigan for the cooler summer nights.

I have swatched for Tree Jacket. I am using Tahki Savoy which is a worsted weight yarn of 52% silk, 48% merino. This yarn is indescribably soft. It just feels delicious in my hands. It swatched to gauge on the recommended size 8 needles. I also played a bit with the lace pattern. Everyone has had problems with the lace twisting and I really don't want mine to do that. The lace pattern for the body is: K4, YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog. I thought I would try to do mirror image decreases so I did two repeats of the lace in K4, YO, K2tog, YO, SSK. I could see that it would twist so I then tried two repeats as recommended by someone on the Zephyr message board: K3, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK. That looks like it will be straight, so that's how I will do Tree Jacket! I plan on pretty much following the pattern.

Other accomplishments--I finally hemmed the jeans I got this summer at True Jeans. It was suggested that I hem them with the original hem. I was amazed at how much easier it was to do it that way instead of all the cutting and measuring. Plus the original hem just looks so much better. I made a little tutorial on how to do this. You can find it here.

Nothing else much to talk about this weekend except that I went to a conference Friday and Saturday. That's about it!

Bushism of the day:
"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001

Kitty cam:
Ems was out of town, so I went over to give Mokey some love! He was only too happy to show off for the camera!

Progressing . . .

I'm ready to start the lace section of Juliet. At the time of this photo, I had one more garter row to do before starting the lace.

This is really a nice quick little knit. Gotta love those Zephyr Girls! They design a nice pattern!

This has been a rather uneventlful weekend--just the usual cleaning, shopping etc. I spent yesterday working on an anniversary gift for DH. Our anniversary is this Thursday! 27 years of wedded bliss! Time flies when you're having fun!

Bushism of the day:
"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." —George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001

Kitty Cam:
Samantha and Harley have been competing to sleep on the new rug in front of the kitchen sink. I walked in the kitchen and found this:

Harley doing "the cow" on the rug.

I walked out and heard some kitty commotion. When I went back into the kitchen, I found this:

Samantha holding steadfastly to the rug--with no intention of relinquishing her position!

Project update!

Here is my progress on Juliet. I'm 3 rows away from joining the body.

I'm loving this yarn. It is Cascade Venezia and it is a blend of 70% merino and 30% silk. So far so good.

I came home from work today to find this:

My order from Webs!

First I got 2 skeins of Plymouth Royal Bamboo to use for chemo caps. It feels and looks like cotton only it is shiny. The colors are really lovely!

The real surprise was the 9 skeins of Tahki Savoy which I ordered for the Tree Jacket! First off, they sent me 10 skeins. Secondly, this is the softest yarn I have ever felt! I had never seen this yarn in person, but the description sounded like something I would love, so I took a chance. According to the label, it will knit to the gauge specified in the pattern. The fiber content is 52% silk, 48% merino and it is a golden olive green. I couldn't be more pleased!


I little eye candy, courtesy of Trader Joe's. Two dozen roses! I take a deep cleansing breath every time I look at them!



That's it for now! Nothing exciting to write about.

Bushism of the day:
"It's negative to think about blowing each other up. That's not a positive thought. That's a Cold War thought. That's a thought when people were enemies with each other." —George W. Bush, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001

Kitty Cam:
Harley waits impatiently for me to fix breakfast!

RRRRRRRRIP!

So goes Juliet! Yup! I frogged her! I got almost to the end of the yoke--where the body is joined and discovered that my gauge was significantly off. My swatch had determined that size 9 needles would give me gauge (3.5 stitches/ 5 rows per inch). The yarn label also says size 8 - 9 needles gives this gauge. Wrong! After knitting 20 rows--I found that my gauge was 4.5 stitches per inch and the yoke only measured 3 inches long whereas it should've measured 4 inches. I suspect this is why the fabric felt so dense. I ripped it all out and started again using size 10.5 needles. It seems to be the right gauge so far. I can handle if it is too loose as I am making the size S. Both S and XS have the same number of stitches. Small just has you joining the body after 32 rows instead of 26 rows like the XS. I figure I'll just try it on at 26 rows!

I received a delightful surprise the the land down under today. My Ravelry Caffeine Swap packaged arrived today from Australia! It was a lovely treat! There was a box of Earl Gray Teabags, some special cookies, a lovely mug, a little tea bag rest with koala bears on it, some handmade stitch markers and a gorgeous skein of handdyed merino fingering weight yarn.

Here's a closer look at the yarn and stitch markers!

This yarn is just beautiful! It has shades of dark green, blue and purple and feels like butter! There are 490 yards so I may have to finally knit a pair of socks--unless I decide to do a lace scarf of some sort! I don't know! I'll know what to do when I see the right pattern!

I decided to stop by Borders today since it is Educator's Week and teachers get 25% off all books, CD, and DVD's. I only bought one book. As an educator, I thought I needed to be more educated in this:

Secifically in this:

I fell in love with that top! It's designed by Annie Modesitt which explains it all. I love her designs. There are some fabulous kids sweaters in there among other things--quite a few that I would gladly make. I was hoping to also find "Bag Style." I viewed some of the designs for that one online and found it to be the most interesting book of bags that I've seen yet. All of the Style series books are fabulous. I have Scarf Style and Lace Style as well and love them both.

Another design that I've fallen in love with is Cherie Amour from the fall issue of Knitty. This looks like a really quick knit. It is knit in the round with the sleeves flat knit then sewn in. I studied the pattern and came to realize that the sleeves could be picked up and knit in the round from the shoulder down. I'm seriously thinking of making this. The handpainted yarn recommended in the pattern is lovely but the color I like is out of stock so I will have to wait to see if they restock it.

I took Mikey to the vet for a fructosamine test today. Nomally he just gets a glucose test that involves pricking his ear then using a regular glucose meter like human diabetics use. The fructosamine test involves taking a large vial of blood for a more complex test at the lab. This test can tell what his average daily glucose level was for the last 2 weeks. They use a really large syringe and poke around in his neck until they hit a vein. Sometimes they have to shave him so they can see the vein. He's a good little patient. He doesn't struggle at all. I always feel so bad for him. It's funny how he is so loveable to me after all this. He cuddles and nuzzles me when I sit down. I can't help but think that he knows I'm doing this to make him feel good.

DH and I are going to Pittsburgh tomorrow so I need to get some laundry done.

Bushism of the day:
"I want it to be said that the Bush administration was a results-oriented administration, because I believe the results of focusing our attention and energy on teaching children to read and having an education system that's responsive to the child and to the parents, as opposed to mired in a system that refuses to change, will make America what we want it to be — a more literate country and a hopefuller country." —George W. Bush, Jan. 11, 2001

Kitty Cam:
Mikey takes a nap after his hard afternoon at the vet.

Blah, blah, blah

Ahhh! Almost the weekend! What a relief! Anyway, here is my obligatory photo of me wearing Fifi.

It's not the greatest, but it was the best I could do with the time constraints! Anyway, I'm rather ambivalent about this piece. I just don't love it. I think if I had made it with 3/4 length or long sleeves, I probably would love it. I considered doing one or two more pattern repeats on the sleeves, but when I tried it on, they seemed about right so I didn't. I will probably wear it layered over a peasant top of some sort.

I started Juliet. The garter stitch fabric is rather dense. I like the yarn though. It has a nice feel. I'm toying with the idea of making 3/4 length sleeves. When I get to the point where I join the body, I think I will put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn instead of binding them off. If I make them longer, I will most likely continue knitting them in garter stitch then increase so that I have enough stitches for the lace pattern repeats. Hopefully the lace at the bottom of the sleeve would give it a belled sleeve effect. This is just an idea. I don't know if I will do this or not!

Here's a little eye candy:

I always have at least 2 flower arrangements in the house. I just put that one out yesterday!

Anyway--this is a brief post. Sorry for the lack of cleverness this evening!

Bushism of the day:
"Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment." —George W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001

Kitty Cam:
The tiny tuxedo twins take a nap!