Category: Knitting

Works in progress, finished objects, yarn, patterns

Knitting

WIPs

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Here are a few of the projects I’m working on at the moment –

Clockwise from left:  Whatever Socks, Malabrigo Sock, Indiecita colorway for me.  These are a variation of Hermione’s Everyday Socks using (I think) a linen stitch, Sunburst Lichen Cowl, in a really pretty blue mystery yarn and last, a pair of Simple Skype Socks for Babydaddy using Fingerpaints Supersock Self Striping from Cherry Tree Hill Yarn, in the Java Jive colorway.

From the pottery wheel

Unfired pots, using low fire red clay

A couple more days of drying time and then they’ll be ready to bisque fire, the first step toward a finished pot.

NEWS FLASH – Unfortunately, the darker, larger pot didn’t make it through the first firing. ☹️

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. Janis Joplin

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Knitting

Better Late Than Never

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I’m finished with the Christmas gift knitting which, unfortunately, was started way later than it should have.  Yay anyway because she loved it and didn’t mind giving it back to be finished right after opening.❤️❤️❤️

DETAILS

 Sunburst Lichen Cowl

 Malabrigo Rios

Ravelry Red

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.  Zig Ziglar

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Knitting

Sometimes You Just Need………

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A QUICKIE

Something fast, something that gives (almost) immediate gratification.  I’m in the middle of a sweater, a huge crocheted shawl, a pair of socks, a dog sweater and the cutest flag garland ever.   I’m not counting my Christmas knitting — it’s not the last minute yet and I don’t want to let the cat out of the gift bag.  Anyhow, despite my vow to not start anything new until the WIPs are at least a little bit under control, I caved.  I needed a project that offered some immediate gratification.  Rav served up the perfect pattern, Leafy Washcloth.   I knit up the first one last evening and it’s blocking as I type this.

 

I used some Sugar and Cream cotton that I had around and size 7 straight needles, filling the immediate gratification bill perfectly.  Feels so good to have a FO!

The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it.  Mal Pancoast

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Knitting

Better Handle

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ON MY WHEEL

I’ve been throwing up a storm this past week, with about a 50/50 satisfaction rate, which is about par for the course.  Unless I’m really really happy with the finished pot, it goes into the reclaim bucket.  My mug handles are definitely getting better — they should be with all the practice!

I’m running a full bisque kiln this morning and have ordered a few new glazes.  Hopefully by the end of this week they will have come in and I can get the newly bisqued pots glazed and into the kiln for the final step.  Several have gift potential, so I’m anxious to get them finished.

ON MY NEEDLES

I’ve made a pact with myself that there will be NO NEW STARTS until I finish my current WIPs.  That’s all I want to say about that, as several of these also have definite gift potential. 🤫 Anyone else who will be working down to the wire on holiday gifting?

A goal without a plan is just a wish.  Larry Elder

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Knitting

Deep Breath In

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CALENDAR FREAK OUT

After getting home from bell rehearsal last evening, I updated my calendar practice and performance wise and took stock.  Yikes!  Between today and 12/16, I have three practices and five performances.  OK, I’m retired and with a bit of juggling, this is totally doable.  So, now, I think if I (temporarily) put all my WIPs on the back burner, I can just about have all my gift knitting finished and ready to go by Christmas Eve. 🎶🎶

BAPTISM BOY

Shepherd William Lee Coleman

Baptized December 2, 2018

Is he an angel or what????

OFF THE WHEEL

I finished this pot late last  night, now just waiting for new glazes to arrive.  Here are the ones I ordered –

 

I’m SO happy to have my own little pottery studio set up.  The winter break in class is the longest – eight weeks, give or take a few days and I tend to get pretty bored, especially if the weather is nasty.  It can get pretty cold out in my garage studio, but my little space heater does a good job warming it up.

Life is good!

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye off your goal.  Henry Ford

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Knitting

As Promised – A Bit of Knitting, A Bit of Throwing, A Bit of Ringing

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ON MY NEEDLES

I seem to be caught in a startitis vortex, convinced that every new project start magically completes the WIP above it in the Everlasting Endless Knitting Queue, except it doesn’t.  The tabletop  next to my knitting chair continues to become more and more crowded and is developing a layered look, sort of like what you’d find in an archeological dig with recent stuff on top and progressively older stuff underneath that.  Here’s a few off the top-

Freak Flags

Sequences

Mason-Dixon Knitting Field Guide No. 5

 

Freak Flags has progressed to this –

I’ve recently fallen in love with banners and such so when I saw the Freak Flags in MDK Sequences it was all over but the knitting.  The plan is to make a set of seasonal set for my mantle, with this particular set in fall colors.  Winter will be next using blues, grays and whites.

I’m making good progress on my Simple Skype socks –

Enlarged to show stitch detail

Simple Skype Socks

Fingerpaints Supersock Self Striping

100% Superwash Merino

Java Jive

RINGING

Have I ever mentioned that I’m a handbell ringer?  Advent is upon us, a busy busy time for musicians, with extra rehearsals and the butterflies that go hand in hand with ringing in public,but it’s a labor of love.  Aren’t they beautiful?

THROWING

Here’s a look at the first pot out of my very first glaze kiln –

 

  Multiuse Pot

B clay with grog

 Mayco Jungle Gems Peacock Green on outside and Blue Azure on the inside

I like the inside better I think.

BIG DAY TODAY

Hit the ground running this morning…..Baby Shepherd will be baptized at 10:30 mass this morning and we’re having a Baptism/Birthday/Belated Birthday chili supper this evening to celebrate.  I’ll do my best to get photos of the Baptism Boy and Birthday Boys up on the blog in the next few days.  Busy with blessings!

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.  Albert Schweiter

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Knitting

Arrival

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INTRODUCING

Shepherd William Lee Coleman, aka Shep, aka Baby Sheppie, our sixth grandbaby and first grandson who arrived 08/31/18 at 4:25 am.  Mother and baby doing well.  Mr. iKnead and I are recovering. 🙂

Shepherd William Lee Coleman

Babydaddy, Babymama and Shep on their way home

A YARNY UPDATE

Ginny’s Patronus Cloak continues to get bigger and bigger, the pattern gives a final stitch count of 737, which translates to 15 feet of ruffle. 😳😳😳

STILL BLUE

I’m still deep into my blue glaze phaze; every time I think I’ve reached my limit, there are one or two more new pots that lend themselves beautifully to the blues.

 

Blue Glaze Phaze

B-clay with grog

Cloudy Blue, Blue Celadon, Glossy White Glazes

PARTING SHOTS

 Nailing the big sister gig……

Babydiva and Baby Sheppie

Baby Sheppie and the Elf

And just like that – happy tears…..

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.  Happiness never decreases by being shared.  Buddha

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Knitting

No, Not Yet

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GRANDBABY TALLY

Same at five grandgirls on the hoof and one grandboy still in utero.  This is what 39 weeks looks like

Best daughter in law EVER!

Stay tuned!  Her due date is TODAY!

ON THE HOOK

Ginny’s Patronus Cloak continues to grow……

This cloak may be my biggest crochet project ever, with this kitchen window valance running a really close second.

 

and, if you’ve kept up with me over the last few weeks, you remember our new four legged resident here at Casa  Coleman – Dixie

 Being the puppy she is, some of my fiber and several needles and hooks have taken it on the chin,  necessitating the purchase of replacements.  I got lucky this weekend when I went to buy replacement hooks and found this nice set of Boye ergonomics on sale at Wal-Mart.  I prefer wooden needles/hooks, but until Dixie gets over her appetite for wood, I’ll be sticking with something a little sturdier. 🙂

Who we are never changes. Who we think we are does. Mary Almanac

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Knitting

It’s a Waiting Game, Many Starts But No Finishes

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PLAYING THE WAITING GAME

Grandbaby #6 has all of us on pins and needles, waiting for his much anticipated arrival, which could be any time now.  His poor mommy has been through the mill these last few days and weeks with long and strong Braxton Hicks contractions, pregnancy fatigue and just plain old impatience, with all of us more than ready for a meet and greet with Baby Shepherd…..did I mention that he is the lone boy in the grandbaby lineup, with five princesses and now, one prince.  I see a lot of spoiling in his future!  Stay tuned!

ON MY NEEDLES

A new pair of socks

Uzu

Knitty Deep Fall 2011

Fiesta Baby Boom Glacier Mist

What may be the most unattractive scarf ever — good thing this is just a test drive of some yarn that came in a “grab bag” from Lion Brand.  Yeah…….no.

ON THE HOOK

Which has grown since this photo –

Ginny’s Patronus Cloak

Knitpicks Palette

FROM THE POTTERY STUDIO

One thing that has been moving in the finish direction has been my recent pottery projects, a series of blue and white glazed pots, which I’ve become a bit obsessed with.  Here’s a sampling –

Blue Celadon, Cloudy Blue and Glossy White on B-clay

It’s all I can do not to geek out over these pots, but I’ll spare you.  Apparently, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for mud (and fiber). ☹️

The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.  Dave Weinbaum

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Knitting

Dixie 1, Knitting 0

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NEW KID IN TOWN

Meet Dixie, the newest addition to Casa Coleman…..

 

Dixie came home to us on Sunday, 7/22 from a local rescue outfit, Out of the Woods Animal Rescue.  She is five months old and is of unknown parentage, but we suspect a bit of hound, maybe a touch of boxer, along with a tiny amount of pit bull, with some terrier thrown in for good measure, from the look of her ears.  She is awesome, calm and smart (we started “sit” and leash walking yesterday and she caught on quickly. 👏👏👏

Moving along, it’s been a long time since we had a puppy and we haven’t had to cope with the chewing, curiosity and regular trips outside to nail down the housetraining thing. 💦💦💦 She’s done really well with that, no accidents in the house yesterday, hoping the same for today. BUT……I’d forgotten that anything on the floor or within her reach is fair game, finding this when I let down  my puppy destructiveness guard –

Yikes!

I did get it all sorted out and rewound,  but it took a LONG time. 🙂

and this

This used to be a size 1 circ…☹️

Again totally my fault for not retrieving fallen objects and leaving things within snouts reach.  Lucky for me, I’m still trainable. I think.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Knitting

The Finger, Spin

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is improving.  The original postop dressing worked its way off (thank goodness – it was so big and bulky!) so Mr. iknead wrapped it again for me.  This time it was just right –  not too big and not too tight or too loose.

A masterpiece of finger bandaging.

I crocheted few rows of the Windowpane Scarf last evening,it was slow going and a little awkward, but definitely doable. Maybe I’ll give knitting a try later on today, I’m really close to finishing Clapotis and would really like to get some knitting done on the lonely WIPs that are languishing in the bottoms of assorted bags I have laying around. 🙂

 

SPINNING

It’s been  much easier to spin than knit or crochet with my gimped up finger, so Violet the Spinning Wheel has been put to heavy use this week. This particular roving came from Three Waters Farm and is 100% Falkland Top.  The colorway is Red Hot and Blue.

I’ll be finishing up this particular spinning project today with this lovely stuff waiting in the wings –

This is also from Three Waters Farm, 100% Finn Top.  After spinning brights all spring and summer, this muted purple colorway will be a welcome change.  To be fair though, what you see isn’t always what you get when working with wool.  You just never know for sure what the completed project is going to look like.  It’s like it’s biding its time, getting ready to yell SURPRISE! when it’s all said and done. 😄🤭🎁

Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Steve Jobs

 

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Knitting

But When Can I Start Knitting Again???

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FINGER NEWS

Over the last few months, I’ve developed a ganglion cyst at the top joint of my right index finger which has been growing and getting increasingly tender.  I finally went to my local doc, who, in turn, sent me to a hand specialist.  Hand doc recommended excision of cyst, along with some bone spurs that have also gotten larger and more painful.

CUT TO THE CHASE

Had finger surgery yesterday, which went very well according to the hand surgeon (best ever IMHO)

and am now sporting this –

My postop visit is 6/21 – 2 weeks from now.  I’m hoping to have figured out how to knit around the dressing before then. 🤔 If not, then I suppose Mr. iknead will be shopping for a straitjacket. 🤣

ON MY NEEDLES

No doubt most will recognize Clapotis, which has

proven to be a really enjoyable knit!

 

A bit of stitch detail (please disregard cat hair)

Knitted using Baa Ram Ewe Dovestone DK

A blend of 50% Bluefaced Leicester, 25% Wensleydale

dark brown masham

Rhubarb

It’s been YEARS since I picked up a hook and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how easy it has been to get back into crochet.  This pattern is Windowpane Scarf, using Hobby Lobby Sugarwheel, Green Tea Swirl colorway on a size E crochet hook. Not crazy about the color, but it’ll do. 🙂

Bangkok to Little Rock Countdown continues at T minus 18 days……

Yesterday is history. Tommorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift thats why they call it the present.

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