Its a winner!

Well - I haven't posted for a week partly because I wasn't feeling well, partly because I was down about something that happened at work, partly because I was feeling like I wasn't making much progress on anything.. but all that has changed (well maybe not the work thing).

I feel a lot better and here is the completed body tube for my Philosopher's Wool Southwest cardigan!



It took a lot longer than I expected. Its bigger than my Traditional - because I made the sleeves too wide at the top (10 inches) and I didn't start the armholes soon enough. I had to keep going until I knit 10.5 inches above the start of the armhole steek. Here is a better photo of the top:



And you can see how the stripes at the top will coordinate with the stripes at the tops of the sleeves:



I'm pleased. I plan to put the stitches on waste yarn so it will be easier to sew the steeks and then do a 3 needle bind off at the shoulders. The pattern doesn't say to do that - but I think that is what I did for my Traditional.

And you ask how I add a neckline? With the PW method.. you sew an oval where you want it to fall and then cut the yarn above the sew line. So easy.

And the sink hole has been repaired! Life is improving.

My next goal is finish the second Embossed Leave sock. Then the Mermaid.. Then I will come back and do all the work for the Southwest. My sister and I plan to do the Antique Lace vest for the summer so I better get busy. But for now - my hands need a rest.

Surviving on little sleep!

I am one of those souls who is much more productive in the morning than the evening so I like my mornings to be long. The side effect of that is that I go to bed VERY early in the evening and most days - I am up by 4AM.

Well - Murphy's law struck last week. I came down with some kind of virus. It hit my stomach first and then my sinuses. I stayed home for 1.5 days from work and then went back but was very tired. Thursday night I left work a little early wanting to get home so I could crash. Then this happened:



Yep - that is a hole. A sink hole on one side of I-25 which I innocently drove onto Thursday night as I do every night. A big water main broke under the highway (why in the world they put one there in the first place??) and the pavement caved in. It took me 2 hrs to get home!! What was maddening is that there are HOV lanes and they didn't decide to open them up until later that evening.

So Friday I took the side streets home - but guess what - so did the rest of N. Denver. So that took me 1 hr to get home.

Bottom line is that I am not getting the sleep I need to kick this virus and I'm not doing much knitting either.

I left my Embossed Leaves socks at work.. but here is my cardigan.. I am about 3 inches into the armholes. It is pretty but takes a lot out of me when I'm this tired.



Please say a little prayer for me that they get the sink hole fixed by rushhour tomorrow? I think they have opened up a few lanes but rushhour traffic in Denver needs 5 or 6!

And just a final risque view of my little Belle.. I think she is sleepin but she has no shame!



Have a better week than I did!

A Delightful Day!

I finally made it to the Denver Creative Festival on Friday and had a wonderful day! I spent more $$ than I was going to but had a great time.

I met Anne and Eugene Bourgeois - the owners of Philosopher's Wool and took her class.

They took a photo of me (I hope I was smiling OK) and I asked a nice lady to take photos of me along with Anne and Eugene. Here is me and Anne (I'm the one with funny thing going on with my smile.. now how did I do that?) and yes I am wearing her Traditional sweater in Colorway Deep Sea:



Here is me and Eugene. He suggested that - instead of using my Addi 16 inch circulars for my sleeves (which cramp my hands) - to try the 2 24 inch circulars (like they do for socks). I will try that for my next project.



Both of them are delightful.. I brought my Southwest and asked Anne about the vertical bands I saw in the sections which contained purls. She told me that they added interest to the sweaters and not to worry about them. She signed my book:



Her only suggestion was to go down more in size when I do my button bands and collars.. since mine gape and would eventually get worse. Then I bought another one of their kits (this is their new pattern Light And Easy in Hollyberry - so pretty). They gave me a free tote bag as well as their Shawl book since Eugene said - being so petite - I must have a lot of extra yarn left over after I finish a sweater. Yep!



But to my surprise - there was more at the Festival.

I met Cheryl Oberle of Folk Shawls fame - she is writing a book called Folk Jackets. I told her that my sister and I had made her peddlers shawl together. She asked if they were red.. I said yes - of course! I ended up buying her Celtic Roses pattern (so pretty and it won't be in the book):



I tried it on in blue but decided that I preferred her pink/purple yarn. This yarn is wonderful - very soft with very saturated colors:



And there were so many sewing related booths.. I didn't think I would be tempted..but then I found Faux Chenille. You layer fabric - put tissue on top with stitch lines, sew through all the layers and then cut the top layer between the stitch lines.. It turns into this wonderful chenille like material. It was so amazing. You really have to see to believe. Here is the purple/red silk fabric which is layered over black rayon. I purchased a pattern for a short collared jacket with vertical stripes (501 on her website):



Here is Nannette's website on Faux Chenille

So it was a wonderful day for me. It was good to be inspired by sewing again. Its been a long time since I've done much with it other than steeks.

And I jumped back into my Southwest. I'm about 3 inches away from starting my armhole steeks. I'm psyched!



Now if I could only stay home all the time and work on my projects. And for those who are wondering why I am buying more kits.. I sold about 8 of my kits on Ebay over the last month so I feel justified. Hah!