Finished!!!

I finshed my mom's shawl although I had to leave off one repeat and I couldn't quite figure out the bind off so I did a stretchy bind off. I gave it to her for her birthday. She just loves it.

I can work again on Queen Anne's Lace now and am almost done with chart 2. Will be taking another pic then. I am in the process of designing another bookmark for the monthly contest at Monthly Threads KAL-CAL.

I just couldn't pass a sale on baby alpaca lace weight at WEBS an it still looks like they have some left.

Our LYS had their 4th anniversary May 29th with Bev Galaskas and her book "Felted Knits". It was a great time and bought more lace weight along with a cute little kit to make a knitted hedgehog (purple of course).

I need to cut back on my swaps since I didn't realize that I had signed up for three now. No more swaps for a while anyway after these.

In other news: I applied for a loan to buy a mobile home in the park that my mom lives in. Will have to go in to the bank to find out if I was approved and if not there is one other route that can be taken. We'll see

Adding Pictures of Trip

Here are the pictures that I promised. This a picture taken at Dry Falls. After the Ice Age the land was covered with water and this is used to be a waterfall.

The next picture is taken from Crown Point Vista of Grand Coulee Dam and Lake Roosevelt behind the dam.

This picture is Rocky Reach Dam near Wenatchee. The visitor center was closed by the time we got there. The guard let us through to see the fish ladder and the grounds. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous (have several pics of the plants and an old turbine).

Happenings Update!!!

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post.
To start off with the shawl for my mother is almost done but still not sure if I will be able to complete it on time. I will have to work solely on that to make sure. The Queen Anne's Lace Shawl has been put on the back burner unitl I finish this one.
I've been having fun entering bookmark contests on Monthly Threads Kal-Cal . It's been a lot of fun figuring out what to make based on criteria for the month (sorry no pictures since I'm at work).
I've also been enjoying swaps at Stuff Knitters Gotta Have and Want. Some really great ideas for themes for stitch markers.
I actually won a book from The Gathering Room on knit skirts. They're beautiful designs.

My mom invited me to go to Grand Coulee with her to visit my brother's gravesite on Monday. We took a different route home through Bridgeport, Brewster then headed south to Lake Chelan and onwards to Wentachee and Rocky Reach Dam then homewards. We got home about 10:00 pm and we left home about 9:00 am. I took lots of pictures along the way and will have to share some in my next post. All in all it was agreat day to spend with my mom.

Friendship Scarf and Updates...

I have my scarf back from it's travels (if only it could talk). I started my scarf with P & C worsted weight cotton in lilac ombre. Diana F added pink lilac and a strip of lt grape. Terese added potpourri. Diana F added winterberry. Kim added premium dk pansy. I decided not to add to it and finished it.

I decided to take pictures of the postcards from each person that added to my scarf.

From left to right Diana T, Terese, Diana F and Kim. Thank you, Ladies for my beautiful scarf. I had so much fun participating that I would like to do it again sometime.

I've also been busy making stitch markers and figuring out what to do for the extras. I'm working on a spring flowers exchange and will also be working on an Easter Basket Exchange that also needs goodies.

One more swap that includes yarn and chocolate. I have the yarn ordered and will be going to a local chocolatier to satisfy the local part of it since I can't seem to find local yarn.

In other news: We've been busy packing and planning a yard sale for next week. Still haven't found a place to move to yet. If nothing comes up by the end of March my mother said that we could move in with her until we find a place (hopefully her landlord says yes if it comes to that). Still need to get a storage unit so that we can start moving stuff out.

New Pattern

I've finally created a soap sack pattern using a basketweave stitch. I'm not a big fan of seaming so I used kitchener stitch to close the bottom. I have a pdf of the pattern if anyone would like to make it.

Basket Soap Sack

I've been having lots of fun making stitch markers for swap partners as well as receiving them. My latest swap partner also sent some sock yarn that she dyed just for me. It's called Julie's Jewels and is 100% Merino wool. It's so soft to the touch and the colors are gorgeous. Here's a picture of it.
Update on my mom's scarf: it's done and just needs to be blocked. The friendship scarves continue and I just finished knitting 10" on my third scarf not counting mine, so one more to go and then to finish my own scarf. It's been going extremely well and ahead of schedule. I'm continuing to work on my mom's shawl and should have it done by her birthday in May.

In other news: It was great to have my son home again and it's always hard to see him leave again. We'll be moving at the end of March. Not sure where yet but have started packing.

Knitting Update with a Twist

I've been ignoring my Queen Anne's Lace shawl to finish mom's Frost Flowers Scarf. I'm about 60% done with it. I have about 2 2/3 repeats to do to finish. I don't have a new picture of the scarf''s progress.

I'm on row 60 of the Triangle Lace Shawl for her birthday. The pattern is in Knit.1 Magazine Fall/Winter 2008 issue. It's been an adventure reading the chart and adding beads. I've kind of been avoiding charts but I can't on this one so am muddling through. Thankfully this shawl has a center spine so it's pretty easy to figure out the chart. I think when I blocked the shawl for this picture that the circular cable has a lot to do with the shape of it.

I've received Kim's Friendship scarf and finished knitting my portion and have sent it on to Diana to add to it. I added deep purple and fiesta ombre to her scarf. I can't wait for the next one to arrive.

I've also been busy making stitch markers for my swap partners. I've finally caught up with them. I have one more set to make now using different shades of blue.

I've started to learn to crochet and have made coasters to put in some of the stitch marker packages as a plus.

In other news: My son is home for about 3 weeks before going back to California and the marines. It's great to have him home. I have this week off to spend time with him.

Mom's Surprises

I'm updating on the scarf for my mom with a picture. I've been steadily knitting on it and am a little bit more than halfway done.
I did start on her shawl for her birthday at work but I forgot the crochet hook so couldn't do any rows beyond 15. I haven't knitted anymore of it yet. My Queen Anne's Lace is coming along nicely. I have about 16 more rows to knit before finishing chart 2.
I have started learning to crochet. I found this great book that has very clear instructions. I tried crocheting right handed (I'm a lefty). I couldn't get my hands coordinated enough to pull the yarn through the loop on the hook. This book also has instructions fro lefty's, so I'm using them. When I'm further along in my crocheting it sounds like I will need to reverse rows so that it will look like the picture, but that's for later. The book also has projects in it that can be done after learning a few basic stitches. The book is by Leisure Arts and is called 10 20 30 Minutes to Learn to Crochet. the project that I'm doing right now is a dishcloth that uses single crochet and half double crochet stitches. When it's finished I will post a picture.
In other news: I still haven't heard from my son yet as to when he will be arriving home (hopefully soon). I'm taking a short trip with my mom today to Prosser to buy some Chukkar Cherry products to send to my swap partners for Valentine's Day (stitch markers). Mom said there were a few places that she wanted to visit as well.

Friendship Scarf and Other Projects

I've sent my scarf to Diana T. who is next on the list. I'm eagerly waiting for a scarf to show up in the mail so that I can decide what color to use. Can't wait to see all the scarves when they're completed.
It should be safe enough since my mom doesn't have my blogger address. I'm knitting her a Frost Flowers Scarf for Valentine's Day. The kit can be purchased at Peaches & Creme. The Pattern is by Maile Mauch. I'm also planning on knitting her a shawl for her birthday. She knows what color of yarn is being used since I asked her to pick it out but she doesn't know what it will look like. I have a pattern in mind that uses beads. the pattern is from Knit 1 Magazine Fall/Winter 2008 issue. I just need to wind the yarn and cast on.
On the Queen Anne's Lace, I'm about halfway through chart 2. The bamboo needles work like a charm for the laceweight yarn. I haven't dropped any stitches since switching. As soon as I'm done with chart 2 I will take another picture and post it.
In other News: I haven't heard from my son yet, so I don't know when he'll be arriving. Should hear from him soon though.

Knit Update

I have started my first circular shawl and finished chart one (second start). It's going very well since I changed from metal needles to bamboo. The metal needles were just too slippery for the lace. I did start Queen Anne's Lace by MMario with another color and yarn. I made too many mistakes and with the metal needles the stitches were always dropping off. This second time is much better with the bamboo needles and I like the lace yarn that I'm using this time much better.

On the Ravelry Peaches & Creme Group they're having Friendship Scarf groups dependent on color, pets or not, smoke or not. It sounds like lots of fun and have joined in with purple, pet, and no smoke. I have my part of the scarf ready to send to the next person who will knit 10 inches then send it to the next person in our group and so on. There is a total of 5 people in each group. By the time that it returns to you it's finished except using the kitchner stitch to stitch the two halves together.

I received a thank you note from the hospital today for the preemie hats that I made in November. That was so nice of them.

I've also been having a blast making stitch markers and receiving them from my swap partners through Stuff Knitters Want and Gotta Have Yahoo group.

My son will be coming home soon for a few days at the end of the month. I can't wait to see him. He first called from Hawaii about 6 pm (my time) but I was sleeping so that I would be ready to work that night. I called him back and left a message about 10:30 pm when I checked my phone. He called me back Thursday morning about 4 am to say hello and let me know that he was back in the states after spending time in Okinawa and Korea. Actually it was his suggestion that I should post more often to my blog since he admitted that he actually reads it. So I will make a much better effort to post to my blog on a regular basis and not let so much time pass between.