Spring flowers from my garden ...

are popping up everywhere!!

Close ups are in order ...


(New Pediboo Sock Yarn by Frog Tree Yarns)

Does this mean the StitchingNut is finally restocking her sock drawer?

About the Weekend Knitting ...

First my grand FO ... the knit that even the DH loves ... Finished Object with capital letters!

The Zipped Vest by Veronik Avery
from Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives
Size 5, 34" circular needles, worked back and forth.

The body was suppose to be a moss stitch, but I did it in seed stitch. I started out wrong and just stuck with it. It Still came out great. And what counts is that the DH loves it and it fits perfectly. I loved knitting it too, so there will be another one in his future. Can you believe I've already ordered the yarn from K-pixie? It's the same yarn, Cleckheaton but this time in grey. And I'll do the moss stitch this time also. By the way, the top picture in the moss stitch link is called the British moss stitch and that's what I did ... but we know it as the Seed stitch. So here it is ...

the Zipped Vest for my sweet DH ...

His favorite part is the collar ...

To keep his poor neck warm on those really cold days.

You might remember the story about how I ran out of yarn for this vest. Well I've finished my February TV socks, BUT not without a few problems. Or rather, one major one ... I ran out of yarn AGAIN. I couldn't believe it. I've never had this happen with socks before. That little tiny piece you see in my hand is all that's left. And I still needed at least two more decrease rows and enough yarn to do the Kitchener stitch for grafting the toe. And NO WAY would I buy another skein for this. No $26.00 for just the toe, mind you. So it was time to take a break, get Barefoot ... and make dinner while I think about this. [BTW, my DH brought home the Barefoot because I was whining over the phone to him about my yarn shortage for the socks.]

Barefoot over dinner can only help with my thinking on a knitting problem right? Even if it was a "pain" to do.

I took 1/2 inch out of each cuff and cast off. Then joined the two "scraps" to the toe to finished my sock.

I hope this running out of yarn doesn't turn into a bad habit!

Thankful for my Monkeys ...

which were finished just in time to be worn to our family Thanksgiving dinner.



My feet were happy!

Also ... the day before yesterday I received my scarf in the ISE5.

That's the "International Scarf Exchange" for those who don't know.

And I not only got a delightful sheepy postcard and magnet (already holding notes on the frig, btw) , but also delicious Italian chocolates. She got those while she was in Milan. (I can't forget the Knit Pick's sock yarn either. In a lively and festive colorway. Another one I haven't knit socks with yet. What do you think of these color's, Heidi? They'll make soft & warm socks too, but machine washable.)

My pal is working in the UK right now and I was right about the fact that she was trying to trick me by sending a postcard from Geneve, when in fact a friend sent it for her. Tricky, tricky, Margaret. Almost worked. Well actually it did because I still had no idea where she really was from or who she was for that matter.

I had made the Vine Wrap for my secret pal in the UK and the secret pal, Margaret who had me ... from Ontario, Canada, knit me a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL shawl. Oh how I love this shawl too! I don't have one ... but intended to knit one some day. Now I have a shawl in lovely milk chocolate brown & terracotta. M-m-m-m-m it was a gray cloudy day and what I got for pictures just isn't the correct color I see in person. It's not really this orange ...

But when I took a closeup, it came out more yellow than it really is ... What yarn & colorway did you use, Margaret? I get a sense that you spun the yarn yourself. I just bet you're talented like that.

So I'll have to take another picture on a nice day to give you a true sense of what it looks like.

I wore it to Thanksgiving dinner and it kept my neck and shoulders warm while everyone gave me lot's of compliments on it. But don't worry ... I gave all the credit to Margaret when I said, "A friend of mine, from Ontario knit it for me!" "Aren't I the lucky one?"

(I truely thank you from the bottom of my heart, Margaret. I treasure it!)

Creative minds and hands ...

... are not wasted in Salem, MA.

Taught my first class in Needle Felting yesterday and had a great time! Some talented, ambitious and enthusiastic future needle artists joined me at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn on 21 Front Street for an introduction to my love of needle felting. Don't they look happy? I HOPE they are anyway AND that they got a lot out my class too. Some of them have already applied to next Sunday's Workshop or asked if I would be doing this again later. I think I might. Stay tuned. I just hope I can live up to my reputation and the web advertisement for my class.

And even though I didn't get a lot of knitting done since I spent Saturday doing my final preparations for Sunday's class, I do have two FO's to report.

One for little feet which will be for my Munchkin, Jayden for Christmas.

And

September socks for MY feet.

So I'll be dancing in the street ...

Doing the Two Step ...

* Note added below.

One Math Whiz sock was done soooo long ago, but I started so many things that I want to get done for the Summer and wondered what ever happened to my commitment to knit a bunch of socks. I had my doubts about doing it, but I finally got back to these and finished the second sock. In fact, I grafted the toe in the wee hours of the morning (4 am) today.

Now my feet can dance. I even love the short row heels. Maybe I'm just getting better at it, but there's no holes! If it looks like there's a hole in the picture ... well it's only because there's some white in the yarn and the flash makes it look like a hole.
Honestly, there's no holes.

I love the pattern and love the yarn. Did I tell you I used Sophie's Toes? The colorway is 'Ole Blue Eyes'. Feels so good on my feet too. But should I gift them to my "blue eyed" sister? M-m-m-m, let me think about that ...



I also finished up on my class project for the needle felting class I'm giving at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn . Here are some pictures of what we'll work on. The little coin purse I posted yesterday and this bigger one in purple are either knit or crocheted, wet felted and then needle felted once completely dried. I stitched these together with a blanket stitch and lined with fabric after doing the needle felted flowers. I knit & crocheted up the other two also which will be needle felted in the class for demonstration.

I wrote a pattern for both knitting and crocheting so that everyone will know it can be done either way. Check out Seed Stitch Class Schedule [they'll be updating soon] if you want to be there. They'll be putting together kits with my pattern sheets for those who sign up for class so they'll be ready with their project to be worked on. Frankly, I think I'm getting a little excited about doing this.

[Additional note: It's rather nice to read all about Sara's trip last week. Even with my silly face grinning back at me , LOL. Salem has a way of turning me into another tourist when I show people around town. I just love this place. I love my knitting world within it also. And what better place to show off to a new good friend. BTW, I felt like Sara was one of my long lost sisters rather than someone new and we had known each other for centuries before. Although neither one of us are that old. Hardly. Or yet, LOL. ]

Well it's time to be off to knit more socks ...

Catching up while falling behind ...

What a busy weekend. And all of it involves something to do with knitting too!

This month's STR Club arrived and is no longer a spoiler so I'm posting a picture of my goodies now .... well, I think most people have already received theirs & done this already. The colorway is Firebird. Love the color! But once again, I'm not into the sock pattern. I'll look it over more thoroughly before I give it a thumbs down. It might surprise me and knit up nicely. So I'll let you know. But I can't even begin to knit this one until the Math Whiz is done.

Thursday night I got my Mystery Stole 3 swatches done. Well I only needed to do two. The first one is on size 4 needles with only 2 pattern repeats and the 2nd is on size 5 with the beads knit in with 3 repeats. I tried out the matte black beads and the shiny black beads on the Zephyr Ebony lace yarn. I love this yarn. It's wool & silk and feels so nice while knitting as well as after blocking.

Can you tell which beads I'm using? Bet you can barely see the matte black. Didn't think so ... which is why I'm using the shiny black. You can see those at the point of the 1st row of yarn overs. The matte is in the middle row and just blends right in. It would make no sense to use them here. Okay, I'll use them in another project someday, 'coz I'm really liking the fact that I'm knitting with beads. I'm on row 51 of the mystery stole and have only 49 rows to go before the next clue comes out next Friday. BTW, I can only do this lace knitting early in the morning with no TV on or DH up and talking to distract me. Even then I've developed a twitch in my right eye lid. What's up with that? It stops after I've put the knitting down and away, LOL. I hope it doesn't happen every morning while I'm working on this. I need to do at least 10 rows a day in order to get them done before the next clue comes out.

FOB here ...

but I can't give you a picture of me modeling it until Thursday night's Community Knitting at SSFY. It's not for me tho. It's for my Mom. She use to wear a shawl/jacket I crocheted for her years ago. But since she lost so much weight in her shoulders it keeps falling off so I knit this one for those colder evenings during the Winter in Florida. It has cotton & nylon in the yarn so it won't be too hot but just warm enough to keep a chill out. I'll ask someone to take some pictures since the DH just doesn't do as well in that department. Hope Kendra will be there 'coz she's pretty good at it. In fact, she took a good picture of me with the felted sign at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. Will show you that below.


But first, here's another new project ... a WIP. A little Summer Cardigan in green Shine from KnitPicks. Their green is more like a Kelly Green to me ... I like it! The back is almost done already. Can I possibly get this done before the Summer is over?

Here's the sign hanging in it's permanent home. I think I'll do some more shopping at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn ...



Yup, I see more yarn coming home with me. Don't you? Some for a felted vest and some for another Lily Chin jacket. Haven't taken the pictures yet though. No time right now, but I'll tell you more about it after Thursday night when pictures of the pink & orange jacket are taken.

I did take a picture of a little blanket I bought there ...

It's a Crispina by Fuchsia, Inc. They make new items from old used items, such as wool sweaters, denim jeans, corduroys and t-shirts. This blanket is from wool sweaters. And I love it!

It was perfect today sitting outside to knit altho it was cooler and breezier. So I just covered my bare little toes with my little woollen blanket and knit while DH read his book. Cozy huh?


In fact, that's where I'm going to be for the next hour or two. Hope your weekend was as lovely as mine.

See ya in a few days ...

with knitting needles in my hands!

Three day weekends may get me into trouble!

The weekend started on Thursday night for me and what a great day it was!

Look at the wonderful luscious homespun fiber I received as a gift from Weaver. She's the sister-in-law to another blogger at MIT and she just thought that I needed to try some homespun since I have never done so before. Sort of like having my fiber obsession cemented and ingrained into my very being so that I'll never wake up to my previous life again. I'll be hooked forever to knitting. I touched this Orange baby and it's now got a place next to my chair where I can pet it every night until I decide what to knit it up into. A Scarf?

And the pink ... well I've already got plans for that. How about something like the bag made up by Through the Loops! I simply love that bag. Perfect for knitting socks on the go. Yah, I need the right bag so I can knit my socks while I walk. If I want to loose more weight I need to do more walking and of course I don't want to take that much time away from my knitting either. That bag ... is my solution right?! But ... I know, I know ... that means I need to get out the sewing machine also. And I better make it soon if I want to get any walking done this Summer. Thank you, Weaver for contributing to my present affliction ... Yarn! Thank you, thank you.


And why did I say that "Three day weekends may get me into trouble?"

Well just look at my new local yarn shop [LYS] Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. Soon they'll be open 7 days a week. That's including Sunday afternoon. And considering how much I love to go there even if it's just to sit and knit the afternoon away, well it's also pretty tough not to buy anything while I'm there.

Front Street has become my most favorite street in Salem. Take a look ...
Head on over to 21 Front Street, Salem, MA.

Beautiful street huh?

And look at all the color when you step inside.
All this fiber is intoxicating!


and this is the perfect place to sit and knit ....

Could you resist?


Didn't think so.



And look .... just look what's across the street ...

CHOCOLATE and ICE CREAM!!!


The best street in Salem is also home to a candy/ice cream shop, boutique, flower shop, coffee shop, needlework shop, BEAD shop, and Quilting shop.

I've died and gone to heaven!

[Did I tell you I could walk here from my house if I wanted to?
It's less than a mile away!!]

No wonder I can't resist telling you about this place huh? But the trouble is ...

I came down here Saturday afternoon to buy this lamp at a Lighting Shop on the next street over and ...



spent 2 hours at Seed Stitch talking and knitting and ...


went home with ...



All of this ...

Yup, the bag and books. Not that I didn't want to fill it with yarn, but I had knitting with me so I put it in to keep me from thinking I would have to fill an empty bag. LOL

Somebody STOP ME from spending any more money! Please!!

Oh look who I'm talking too ... other knitting addicts. ;-)



I'm not done yet ... I have a confession to make. Mafia ... Cynthia, I made a mistake ... I'm not knitting the Math Whiz with Sophie's Toes "Grandma's Blueberry Pie" ...

When you mentioned that the color was brighter than your's, Mafia I went on home and dug through my stash and found the real "Grandma's Blueberry Pie" .... so what was I knitting with? Ah, "Old Blue Eyes" ... here's two pictures for comparison.

I discovered

a little more purple in Blueberry Pie and Old Blue Eyes is much bluer. You were right ... it's brighter.

I didn't knit much on the Math Whiz over the weekend tho. I had another project ... and it's almost done. I'll show you the start of it ... it's for SSYF's front door.
But you're only looking at what I started. Hope to have it done tonight and then I'm working on another needle felting project for my class in the fall.
First the sign ...

BTW ... the other side will say "Closed"

And there just isn't anything funny to say about that!