Knitting

14 or No K1P1 Rib for a While

March 28, 2014March 28, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

in Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton, Arctic Ice

There are no words for how over the moon I am with this shrug! The fit is perfect, I took my photos after I washed it on my washer’s handwash cycle, then dried it low and slow in my dryer and hung it on a hanger. I’m wearing this baby until it falls apart, and maybe then some.

I’m linking with Tami and KCCO, go take a look at more masterpieces!

It’s good to be just plain happy; it’s a little better to know that you’re happy; but to understand that you’re happy and to know why and how….and still be happy, be happy in the being and the knowing, well that is beyond happiness, that is bliss. Henry Miller

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 3/26/14, Booklove

March 26, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

1. My Seafoam Shrug is now in the home stretch, down to the last bit of ruffle in ( you guessed it) k1p1 ribbing. At least it calls for only 2 1/2 inches this time. I’ll tell you, those two 60 row k1p1 sleeves just about did me in. Hopefully, this project will be off the needles, washed and blocking by bedtime tonight.

So sorry, the Seafoam link eludes me at the moment. I’ll keep looking and update when I find it.

2. I’ve just barely started a Woodland Shawl from The Thrifty Knitter. I stash dove last weekend and got reacquainted with some yarn that I’ve had for so long I haven’t a clue what it is. All I can remember is that the color is called Papercut. I’m going to do a bit of research, checking Ravelry to see if by some miracle I added it to my notebook. Keep your fingers crossed. OK, uncross your fingers. No luck with Rav. I do, however, remember it was a Etsy purchase, so that’s my next hope. SCORE!!!! I bought this yarn May 15, 2008 from knitfrontandback, out of Calgary, Canada and it’s laceweight merino.

WANNABE

I have the perfect yarn to knit the Maeva Socks from Knitty Winter 2011 with one big inconvenience. The charts are so teeny tiny as to be useless for these old eyes. This means a trip to the copy store to have them enlarged. I tried printing them at 125% but that still isn’t really big enough. >squint<

BOOKLOVE

This week I finished The Troop by Nick Cutter, a horror story. Stephen King said it was one book that scared him, I see a lot of his influence in this particular book. I won’t share any more as not to spoil it. Check your local library. Now, I’m listening to The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider; I love this book! I came clean awhile back regarding my love for what they call Young Adult Fiction and this book hasn’t’ disappointed. If you enjoy YAF, give it a read.

I’m linking with Tami, Frontier Dreams KCCO and Ginny’s Yarn Along.

It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau

Knitting

WIP 3/12/14, Booklove

March 11, 2014March 12, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

The Kew socks are so close to being finished I can taste it. For once, I’ve held my raging startitis in check and will start a new project without feeling guilty about the number of projects relegated to the “back burner” or in my case, “the bag pitched into the deepest, darkest recesses of my yarn room”.

BOOKLOVE

I finished A Land Kinder Than Home by Wiley Cash and am set to start Paris in Love, by Eloisa James. Enjoyed the Wiley Cash, but didn’t love it. It’s a fictional account of snake handling, murder, religion and what happens when they collide. Entertaining, but probably not a repeater.

GRANDS

This photo says everything you need to know about the Sprout; her cute factor is always first and foremost. I’ve gotten good at changing diapers on the fly!

Linking with Tami and KCCO today.

Indulge your imagination in every possible flight. Jane Austen

Knitting

FO Friday 02/28/14

February 28, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Catnip socks! Hurray!!

Wendy Johnson’s Catnip Socks

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, in Wonderstone

Now, I’m off to stalk Rav in an effort to decide which project(s) to knit next, maybe a shawl or more socks. You can never have too many of either, you know.

CLOCK WATCHING

The Papoose, who claims, as always, “No nap for me, I’m not even tired” as she keeps an eye on the clock for the end of her rest time.

Linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. Ray Bradbury

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 2/19/14, SCORE!, Ancient Kitty

February 19, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

A couple of socks, as usual. I didn’t notice that I was using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock for both, it must be love!

Grace, from Knitty, Winter 2011

LLSS Flame

Wendy Johnson’s Catnip Socks

LLSS Wonderstone

WELL WHADDAYANO!

Remember when I mentioned Phat Fiber and their sample box sale that I was going to try to get, along with most of the other fiber fiends on the planet, having come up short the last time I tried? I blogged it here. They open the sale twice on sale day – at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and are usually sold out within (no kidding) a couple of minutes. I struck out at the 10 a.m. sale, but scored at the one at 5 p.m. I was so surprised when the site sent me to paypal after I scored a box, it took me a minute to realize what had happened. Now, I’m anxiously awaiting the mailman/Fedex/UPS person to see what’s in this wondrous box. Check back for updates!

BOAT

This is the Iknead kitty, *Boat. She is ancient as far as cats go, 19 to 20 years old, as close as we can figure. She been a family member since 1995 and was about a year old when she joined us. She’s arthritic, with high blood pressure and an enlarged heart but keeps on keeping on. Anyway, I noticed her sleeping in one of her preferred spots yesterday and was struck by the sun shining pink through her ear. She was beautiful.

*As a kitten, she was found living on a friend’s boat which was in drydock and covered for the winter. She started out as Boat Cat, which was quickly shortened to Boat. We get a lot of funny looks when we tell people her name.

Hooking up this week with Tami and KCCO.

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses. Confucius

Knitting

FO Friday 02/07/14

February 7, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES (AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON)

Mariella Cardigan

A little more detail

I’m loving this sweater now, having gotten over my over the top irritation last week at miscounting and having to basically reknit from the armpits up. I put it on for a while last evening and it’s nice and warm and comfortable. I think it’s a keeper!

Linking up as usual: Tami and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

Trifles make perfections, but perfection is itself no trifle. Shaker proverb

Knitting

WIPW 02/05/14, Barbie Sweater Update

February 5, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

I’ve been under the weather with a bad cold the last couple of days, but feel much better this morning – just in time for WIPW!

ON THE NEEDLES

The Mariella Cardi has taken on a life of its own. I had great plans to finish it last week, but noticed on Wednesday there was a BIG difference between the number of stitches on the right and left front panels, where the raglan shaping decreases are done. BIG difference as in 30 stitches on the left panel and 15 or so stitches on the right panel. How the heck could I have not noticed that??? I tried to make some unobtrusive increases and decreases to bring them back in line with each other but finally faced facts. Not going to work, no way, no how, so I frogged back to the point where the decreases started and redid it. Obvious stitch miscount there. Still….. I’m ready to move on, but sheer stubbornness says I must finish what I started, so have been slogging through.

Mariella Cardi (again)

I did cave and started a pair of Kew socks from Knitty: Fall 2006 using some stashed Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Wonderstone. I fall in love with this yarn a little more every time I pick it up!

IT WORKED!!!

Remember the sweater that I was mourning in this post? Some sweet reader suggested I google how to stretch a sweater after it had shrunk so I did. Google said to soak the sweater in cheap hair conditioner and water and then block into original shape/size. Did that and lo and behold…. it worked! It now fits again and I’m overjoyed!

Linking with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams KCCO today. Pay them a visit for inspiration overload.

We should all be thankful for thos people who rekindle the inner spirit. Albert Schweitzer

Knitting

Looky!, WIP Wednesday 1/21/14

January 22, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

CHECK IT OUT!

Look at our new sink and faucet! They’re so shiny and silver! What you can’t see from the pic is the new disposal to go with the new sink. Mr. Iknead and I finally got around to replacing the old, gross, avocado green sink that was here when we moved in with the new, stainless one. Next up on the home improvement list: new countertops and backsplash.

ON THE NEEDLES

I finally finished the sleeves on the Mariella sweater and would probably be at least entering the home stretch except for the fact that on my first attempt at joining the sleeves to the body of the cardi I put them on upside down. Frustration overload, to say the last. I’ll have another go at it tomorrow.

Linking with Tami and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. Benjamin Spock

Knitting

WIP Wednesday and Yarn Along 01/08/14

January 8, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

ON THE NEEDLES

A couple of things:

The first sleeve on the Quince & Co. Mariella Cardi –

and

some random sock, done in some stash mystery yarn (maybe Seasilk???). I started this one toe up because I haven’t decided whether to do a real pattern or just a nice, comfy, go-to kind of sock. As you can see, the jury is still out….

OUT OF THE OVEN

Yesterday, while sort of browsing through some older posts, it dawned on me that I haven’t posted any baking projects lately. I sort of think I need to do that every once in a while, I mean, the blog is called iknead2knit and all. So, with that in mind, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics of yesterdays project – homemade granola.

The base recipe is one I got from my pottery instructor (thanks, Jean, the Pottery Queen), with 1 egg white, 1/2 cup agave nectar instead of sugar, 1/4 cup olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and 3 cups old fashioned oatmeal. I tweak it with stuff we like (and what’s in the pantry), cinnamon, raisins, almond slivers, unsweetened coconut and sometimes pumpkin seeds or shelled pistachios. I bake it at 300 degrees, stirring every ten minutes or so until it’s brown and dry. Then, it’s hard to keep from munching on it every time I pass it in the kitchen. Putting a little bit in vanilla yogurt is my favorite, with just enough crunch and sweet/salty to satisfy. Yum!

BY THE BOOK

I’m starting The Book Thief this afternoon. I can’t wait!! Pretty much cleared my calendar for it. I hope it lives up to its rep.

The Book Thief

Linking with Tami, Ginny and Frontier Dreams today, as always, inspiration central!

Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event. Brian Tracy

Knitting

WIP Wednesday 12/11/13, Bee Stamp, Booklove

December 11, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

NOT OBSESSED, JUST REALLY, REALLY FOCUSED

As so often happens with me, I got a really good idea along with my coffee and newspaper this morning and as usual, I had to pull out all my other crafting stuff and sort through everything to find what I was ~~obsessed~~ ~~with~~ focused on right then. The stamp I use to identify my pottery projects bit the dust last week and my big idea was to change from an initial stamp (my initials, bc) to a honeybee mark. So, back to the idea, I found some Sculpey clay, found a honeybee charm in the craft stash and pressed it in. Then, I remembered I had some honeybee earrings, so I got one of those and did the same thing. The next step is deciding which one to use. I’m sort of leaning toward the charm, I don’t want a cutesy bee, more like a zoological print look. Which do you prefer?

Just realized there is no contest. The bigger one is better on all counts. And they say size doesn’t matter :p. Here is a better detailed photo:

Upside down. Oops.

ON THE NEEDLES

Tina Martinez’s Fascine Socks, using Fiesta Baby Boom yarn in Sweet Pea. My only regret is that I didn’t by more of this yarn when I had a chance. I’m not running short or anything like that, I just love it.

A little detail

BY THE BOOK

Driftless, by David Rhodes

Linking today with Tami, Frontier Dreams Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny’s Knit A Long.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world. Albert Einstein

Knitting

Winter Trifecta, FO Friday 12/6/13

December 6, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

BRRRRRR

The long promised winter weather is here. We have the trifecta – sleet, freezing rain and snow. It’s a perfect day to hunker down, drink your hot drink of choice and knit or spin or read or (insert your favorite activity here). The Iknead clan is warm, fed and happy. We have a lot to be thankful for.

From the Iknead front door.

POTS

I spent part of yesterday in the studio and pulled my stuff out of the damp box, getting ready to trim. I was surprised at how many pots I’d thrown.

A couple of these ended up in the clay recycle barrel, but overall, I’m pleased. I’m getting a little tired of bowls, though, and will probably start trying some new shapes when I can get back into the studio. The next ones have been bisqued and are kind of uniform:

I like the way the look stacked. As soon as the weather lets up a little, I’ll get them glazed and fire them one last time.

OFF THE NEEDLES

Scapula scarf from Quince&Co, done in Lark, which is 100% American wool, the color is Bird’s Egg. Very, very pleased with both the yarn and the pattern. If you haven’t yet, head over to their website and check them out. Really awesome stuff.

This is a really, really long scarf!

I’m linking with Frontier Dreams and Tami today. When you’re checking out Quince&Co, trip on over to these guys. Even more awesome stuff.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Ellen Parr

Knitting

FO Friday 11/22/13, It’s Here!!

November 22, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE NEEDLES

Hitchhiker is finished! This one is, at least. I started another one about a month ago, which is coming along, though slowly. Sorry for the pics, it’s rainy today and Mr. Iknead and I are having new siding put on the house, which means that where I usually take pictures is overrun with sawhorses, siding, ladders and construction type guys hammering and sawing.