Hard drive arrived and more knitting in progress

My hard drive came today and my hubby will install it tonight. Hopefully I will be back up and running soon. I have finished my fingerless mittens and have started a cable scarf that is turning out very pretty. I am now using my clear acrylic Harmony needles in size 5. Love these too! I cut out 2 Daisy Kingdom apron patterns yesterday that have matching ones for an 18 inch doll. Hope to sew those up this weekend. Have a few more hair bows and headbands to work on for Glendale days as well. My 2 older ones are off to KTown for a campus tour of UT. Tonight I am off to Hancock Fabrics for a Tru Fit Patterns class. Evidently there are more than 20 in the class so it should be interesting. Will post tomorrow if I get any great bits of info.

Knitting is Now!

I was pilfering through some of the things on my sewing/scrapbooking/general craft table (and I wonder why it so quickly becomes cluttered?). I found a stash of knitting and crochet leaflets/magazines that a dear lady at church gave us about a year ago. I had just started knitting at the time and thought I was doing well to cast on by myself, so the materials were stashed. I found them yesterday and breezed through them-I have been rather occupied this week with tasks. I thought these two were so cute. The vest is crochet, but I love the title"Knitting is Now" on the other one. My favorite quote from the typed page above is, "Your new found knit-knack lets you work wardrobe witchery." That is good! There are several cute patterns inside that I would love to try. A more advanced belted cardigan in the back is super cute. Ah, one day I will climb to new heights in my knitting skills and whip these things out lickity split! Thought you might enjoy the pictures. I am off to let out the waist in my husband's suit pants so he can breathe at the wedding tomorrow and bake brownies for 200 wedding guests. Hope you have a productive day!

Socks a La Carte

I recently ordered 2 knitting books and both of them came in yesterday. I didn't realize this book actually has 3 sections that "flip" so you can design your favorite combination sock. There are cuffs, bodies and heel/toe sections. All of the patterns are designed to work together no matter what combination you choose. It doesn't give many picture details of how to actually knit the socks. The patterns are all just a list of the rows with a glossary in the back for help. It did reference a few online sources for help with knitting socks though. One of the sites offers online classes I think. Once I get the hang of the actual process, I think this will be fun.

New Knitting Books

I have a church friend who began a sock class last night and I am unable to take it with her-so sad! The fee was $20 which I suppose is reasonable for a 3 session class. I have been perusing most of the knitting books at Barnes and Noble and just didn't want to spend $20 or more on a "How to Knit Socks" type book. I found several that had multiple knitting projects, like hats, scarves, socks etc., but they are all expensive and didn't have really clear instructions (obviously they don't understand how much of a beginner I am). I really want the book to ask me questions like, "Andrea did you understand that or do you want me to show you again?" or "Andrea watch me do this one more time so that you don't screw that heel flap up!" So yesterday I decided that I would spend the $20 I would have spent on the class on knitting books. That's right-I said books-plural. I looked on Half.com which is a wonderful place to buy used books. I found a sock book and a knitters handbook by Readers Digest. The Readers Digest sewing handbook is very nice and has many great pictures to help you with each step. I was able to look at it in Barnes and Noble. I figure the knitter's handbook will be similar. I purchased the books for $6.99 total. The rest was shipping. I still only spent $15 and I will soon have 2 new knitting books and hopefully a cool pair of socks to boot!

Checkerboard headband and retro dress progress

My family went to a lovely wedding this past weekend in Tennessee. The bride and groom are such a sweet couple. I am taking the week off for school so that I can ready my house for Thanksgiving, but also because we need a school break. I was able to finish painting the shed today and pick up sticks and black walnuts from the yard as a result of the warm weather we are having. I also slipped in some knitting and sewing prep time as well. I found this cute, easy headband pattern online last night, so I decided to give it a try today. It is going pretty quickly. The pattern designer said she made hers 16 inches long. You just sew the ends together once it is long enough to fit your head. She made hers from worsted weight cotton, but I decided to use some acrylic to test the pattern first. I also cut out all my fabric for my 70's dress. Will maybe get some sewing in tomorrow. My youngest daughter turned 13 today and we are having fondue tonight. It makes for a fun meal and everybody just cooks and talks and eats. Great way to spend an evening if you haven't tried it.

Pretty in Purple

I finished my purple scarf this weekend.  I really like this color of yarn.  It has several colors in it and somehow that gives it a pretty cool sheen. I am looking forward to some cooler weather and then I can wear it instead of my body double. I have decided that my next knitting challenge will be cables.  They scare me, but I don't want to just keep knitting and purling.  Have you done cables?

End of June til who knows when projects-HA

I have a few projects going on right now that I really have no idea when I will finish. I bought some great Fisherman's Wool yarn at Micheals with my 50% off coupon. I have started a scarf for winter. We will see if that gets finished by the time cold weather gets here.

I am also working on some applique quilt squares for my mom. She has these cute 9 patch squares with yellow flowers and ladybugs. I brought these home from the retreat to work on. I really like applique. I will take these with me on vacation so I don't have to give up all sewing for a week and a half.

I am also working on making some soft books for church kids. I haven't taken any pics yet, but I have made some carrots and tomatoes for the book. I will take some once I get the basic book together.