Postponed due to hurricane

Today I (like many here on the east coast) am having a "we had too much rain and wind" delay.  Until our regularly scheduled life events resume, let's all think about the plight of the alpaca and how difficult must it be for them to go through life so incredibly cute.

I'm just glad it's not me,
Joyce

GiGi's first design

Gigi has published her first design.  It's a lovely shawlette called Sheri. 


download now

It's a free pattern and can be found on Ravelry.

Congrats GiGi!  Great job!

Yay for designing sisters,
Joyce

Sunnyside

My lovely friend Athie is having a baby next month.  It's her first and I'm super excited for her.  So much so, in fact, that I'm knitting my first ever baby sweater for her baby.  (I would have made baby items for GiGi's kids, but I wasn't a knitter when they were born.  Those were tough times, I tell you, tough times.)

It's Sunnyside by Tavis Lavallee.  The pattern is well written and easy to follow.  Plus it comes in boy and girl versions.  I decided to make it short sleeved because I was running a little short on yarn.

I figured that three inch sleeves should be long enough.  Fingers crossed.

It's knit in Opulence in the Tupelo Honey colorway from the Woolen Rabbit.  The yarn is really luscious and makes me wish I had enough for a sweater for me. 

Prior to this the only baby item I'd ever knit was a Brain Slug hat for my niece's baby boy.

Luckily she understands my twisted sense of humor,
Joyce

Idyle thoughts on Wylde tomatoes

When I finished Tempest, I thought I was done with fingering weight sweaters forever.  But within a few days I started to get the sweater jones again.  The fingering weight sweater jones. 

There are several reasons why I'm not sure why I continue to get such sweater cravings.  First, I'm a shawl knitter.  You may have noticed that I like to knit them, and design them, and when weather permits wear them.  Second, the sweaters I make never fit me.  That's my fault really.  I tend to make them a size too small.  (Eventually I will be honest with myself about my bust size... Today may not be the day.)

At first I thought I was going to be thwarted by a lack of yarn.  I know that sounds ridiculous given the amount of yarn in the stash, but, as I may have mentioned, I'm a shawl knitter so while I have plenty of fingering weight yarn, it's all in shawl amounts (600 yds or less).  But then I remembered.  I have nearly 1600 yds of Madeline Tosh fingering weight in, you guessed it, Tomato!  So I immediately cast on another fingering weight sweater.  This time it's Idlyewylde by Melissa Werle.  The pattern is very well written and easy to follow.  Plus, this time I made it in my bust size (or nearly so, I think).

I've finished the body and am nearly done with the sleeves. I decided to change the sleeves up a little.  I'm knitting them flat. Plus, I am making them full length (or not depending on whether I run out of  yarn) and I added a lace motif around the cuff. 

Hopefully I will get this one done faster than Tempest,
Joyce

Central Park Lake in summer

The Central Park lake can be quite beautiful in summer. 

Plus the turtles are really cute,
Joyce

I love Tomatoes!

Did I mention how much I adore the MadTosh colorway Tomato?  It's orange with yellow undertones and red overtones.  I adore this colorway so much that even my 16 year old nephew knows about it.

Imagine my surprise and joy when, walking in the park, I came across a plant that had flowers the same color as my obsession... um, I mean... no really, it's an obsession.

I wasn't 100% convinced at first so I pulled out the skein that I had on me. (I know, it's shocking that's I just happened to be carrying a skein on me that day. Ok, so no it's not.)  And Voila!  There it was, solid proof of both the color match and my obsession.

Nothing like Tomatoes to lift the spirits,
Joyce

Vampire Empanada

Hubbie is the chief cook in our family.  He has recently taken to making empandas. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of eating an empanada, they are little doughy pockets of yummy goodness.  Hubbie stuffs them with veggies and Daiya cheese for me. Did I mention yummy goodness?

But I've begun to suspect that there's a vegetarian vampire that lives in my kitchen because when he handed me my plate I saw this.

 That vampire better keep his mitts off of my food, I know where the stakes are,

Joyce 

Hubbie Hats

Early in the summer, Hubbie requested that I make him some summer beanie type hats.  He's been going bald for a while and keeps his hair really short so his scalp gets a lot of sun exposure.  Being the sweet and loving wife that I am, I said, "Alright, if I gotta." (Insert pouty face.)

I made him five hats.  (He is still waiting for me to weave in the ends on two of them.  It's been a busy summer for me, plus all of those shawls were just begging to be knit.)  I wrote up the pattern for three of them. 

A striped one worked in Knit Picks Comfy Sport weight in Fedora and Cashew.

Another striped one.  The body is Comfy in Planetarium and the stripes are in Misti Alpaca Cotton/silk in Excalibur.

And a cabled one which is also Comfy in Planetarium.

They are all available in ebook form for free on Ravlery. download now

Perhaps I should consider a new hat face,
Joyce