finally

I have been desperately looking to purchase some sock yarn by Tanis Fiber Arts.  I am the type of knitter that needs to touch the yarn and really see the colors to buy it.  In fact, almost every time I have strayed from this need, I end up purchasing yarn that I just don't like.  And then, it's into the bin in the basement for that stuff...  (P.S. I organized my stash!) Anyway.  A few years (?) ago I saw some of Tanis' yarn at my LYS and should have bought it.  I wasn't that into socks then, but I just knew that I wanted that yarn.  Well, last week as a Valentines Day present to myself, I bit the bullet and bought a skein of TFA Purple Label Cashmere Sock Yarn.  Yes, I said cashmere. I was desperately waiting for it to arrive.  I cast on for a sweater with some yarn I Had bought months ago and tried to wait it out.  On Tuesday, it arrived.

 It is a lovely color.  (I love purple).  But the best thing about it, is how F*&^&*ing soft it is! It is amazing.  I told Michael that I wanted to wrap my body in it... He thinks I'm weird, but he's supportive!  Thank goodness!

The weird thing is, I finally had this beautiful sock yarn.  I had picked the pattern (Alderney Socks from Spring 2014 Interweave Knits) I wanted to use it for.  But I couldn't cast on!  I felt so bad about abandoning the sweater.  So I did what any normal knitter would do.  I set it on the end table next to my knitting seat and looked at it while I begrudgingly knit the damn nice sweater.

Well I knit like crazy.  And looked at the sock yarn.  Then, in a moment of weakness, I decided since the baby was at daycare (Yay February Vacation!) I had to wind it now, because Harrison loves to mess with the swift.  So I wound that lovely ball.

And I think it was more beautiful than before.  Oh no. I couldn't help myself.  So now the sweaters on the end table and I could care less.  The pattern is coming along nicely.  And I am forcing myself to follow the directions.  Sometimes, I think I know better than the designer and decide to change things... then I get into trouble when I have to make a duplicate.  I am not straying a stitch from this pattern.  I cannot wait to wear these!

And the yarn was definitely worth the wait!  What's your favorite sock yarn?

Happy Knitting.

when the kid is away

As you may know, I am a music teacher at a public school in Massachusetts.  We have had a brutal winter with a lot of snowfall and a lot of snow days.  While I do love the day off from school to be home, we can get pretty cooped up and bored stuck in the house all day.  Well February vacation is here and Harrison is in school for the week... so this mommy is home ALONE!!!  I got up this morning to get the baby off with his daddy and then I started in on the household chores.  But now, I break... for knit time.

My husband's wonderful Aunt Mell gives me a subscription to Interweave Knits Magazine every year.  There is something about looking at all of the beautiful pictures and ads of yarn that makes it possible for me to read and re-read these magazines all year long.  In the Fall 2013 issue there is a pattern called the Seven Sisters Pullover and I immediately ordered some Knit Picks yarn to get started.  I was so busy making cowls when it arrived that I put it all in a bag in the closet (oh, the closet... I should clean that this week...) and haven't had a chance to start.  Well, when I finished Greta's blanket yesterday I started that adorable little hat to go with it.  And it is adorable.

This Malabrigo Rios yarn is my new favorite.  And I love the idea of a lacy blanket in a deep purple for a baby girl.  What's your favorite color to knit for babies?

What's on your needles?

Happy Knitting.

Baby, baby, baby

My good friend Greta is expecting her first baby this April. I met Greta when we shared a classroom together in Somerset.  She was the art teacher who was stuck sharing the room with me (the music teacher).  As a side note, Greta is the cleanest/most organized art teacher I have ever met!  We became fast friends and we have been close during so many exciting times in each others lives.  We both got engaged within weeks and married within weeks as well!  She painted the gorgeous mural on the wall in Harrison's nursery and so I was thrilled when she told me she was having a little girl.  While I won't be painting any of the walls in her home, I will be adding some color with the beautiful purple blanket made for Lila.

Blocking is such a crazy thing.  I swear this blanket tripled after I soaked it and laid it out.  I just wish I had taken a picture.  I can't wait to see it all folded up.  When I asked Greta if she wanted a sweater and hat OR a blanket for baby Lila, she said blanket before I could even finish my sentence.  But, lucky for this baby, I have just enough yarn (oh, the yarn! I almost forgot!!!  Malabrigo Rios might just be my new favorite!) for the most adorable little hat.  Its the Owlie Hat by Teresa Cole.  I think little Lila is going to be beautiful wrapped up in all this love.

Happy Knitting.

Herrington cowl

I am in love with all of Jill Zielinski's patterns found at www.kniterella.com.  I saw her pattern for the amazing Herrington Infinity Scarf and was dying to cast on.  I have an amazing local yarn shop that I go to at home.  But whenever I visit my in laws in NJ, I always go to Knit a Bit in Westfield and pick up something. When we were visiting for the holidays, I went and made a trip.  I found the most gorgeous yarn, Vail Mountaintop by classic elite yarns. And I picked my colors and started immediately. 

I set up my iPad and got to knitting by the fire... Truly blessed to have some time to relax doing what I love.

 

Well now, I'm almost finished.  The pattern calls for 6 repeats of the 2 colors, but I think I might do 7.  I'm almost done with the 6th... I just hope I have enough white.  I cannot wait to wear this beauty!

Happy knitting!

cowls

Oh my goodness.  COWLS.  I have been knitting cowls furiously for months now... Specifically, a drop stitch cowl I have been selling and then my father in law called and asked me to make 20 for the nurses at his work for the week before Christmas.  This isn't a big deal because this cowl takes about 1 1/2 hours to knit up and its so cozy and chic.  But factor in an 18 month old... it becomes slightly more difficult.  I knit during nap time and at night... and sometimes while playing in the basement.  I had a stack...  We were ready to ship.

Then, he needed more.  MORE?!?!?!  Jeez.  By the end of the order, he will need 32 beautiful drop stitch cowls.  I don't even have one for myself!  

They are gorgeous.  I need one for me...  Maybe next week.  For now, I am working on the Herrington Cowl by Jill Zielinski.  Pictures to come soon; it is beautiful!

Happy Knitting!

Justine

happy new year!

Happy New Year!  I am so looking forward to 2014 and happy to be leaving 2013 behind.  I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season!

In this time of moving forward and making resolutions and new promises, I am forced to think of where I was this time last year.  I was home on maternity leave with my 6 month old baby boy, Harrison.  I know now that I did not fully appreciate the time I had with my boy.  He was/is a difficult baby... He never wanted to be put down and he cried at the drop of a hat... oh, and the screaming... I admit that I thought being a stay at home mother was going to be easy.  I thought I would have tons of time to get so much done and I would be a Susie Homemaker and be a perfect wife/mother... But I found my time at home to be frustrating and challenging.  And now, as I think back on that time now that I am back to work full-time, I regret not cherishing those moments.  My mother told me one particularly difficult day last year that my priority had to be Harrison.  She said to forget the dishes, the laundry and the cleaning... just be with my son and take care of him.  Everything else could wait.  What good advice; I wish I had taken it more seriously.  

We suffered a devastating loss this year in my family.  My mother passed away in July after being very sick for decades.  There are days when I feel I cannot breathe because she is gone, and then there are other days when I think back on all she taught me and I try to live my life for her.  

So for this New Year, I am going to work on enjoying the small, everyday things in my life.  I am going to take time for myself and my family.  I am going to let the laundry pile up and not vacuum for days!  (I cannot leave dishes in the sink... I have a HUGE issue with that).  I am going to do all the things I love and knit a lot!  I always knit things for my mother... she was my biggest fan.  Whenever I knit, I think of her and I am happy.  Heres to a better year in 2014!

Happy Knitting and Happy New Year!

Justine

vacation...

I just got back from a trip to visit my in-laws in Florida for a week.  Spending a week with an 11 month old in the warm weather is somewhat tricky.  Harrison is a crawling maniac right now, but it was hard to let him crawl around the pool area and even inside where the "evil", lizard-eating miniature dachshund, Abby, lives. The beach with a baby is not very relaxing/enjoyable, either...  Trying to keep him from eating the sand, keeping his hat on and staying out of the sun was exhausting!  He did really LOVE the pool.  He loved to splash and kick and, man, did he look cute:

I am working on a new pattern Sweetness by Tin Can Knits.  I am not sure what I am doing with the cowl, but I bought some beautiful Berroco Weekend Yarn and I thought this would be a perfect knit.  I love the lightness of the yarn... but it does split a bit.  I chose to do the cowl in one color and am really loving it... It just doesn't seem to be growing at all!  Does this ever happen to you? You knit and knit and then measure and the project never gets longer?!?!?!?!  It is soooooo annoying!  I am getting slightly bored with the pattern, so I decided to cast on some socks too... Keep it interesting.

I went to the local yarn shop, Love-2-Knit searching for the perfect sock yarn.  I chose Tanis Lavalee's Business Casual pattern because I love the look of the faux argyle.  It looked so interesting and fun to knit!  I also desperately wanted to try out Tanis' yarn for the first time and I had seen it at the store.  Unfortunately, they were in short supply and had no sock yarn because Tanis recently had a baby...  I mean, what kind of an excuse is that?!?!?!?!  The lovely co-owner, Gayle, invited me to their open knit events... oh how I wishI could go sit with a bunch of other knitters and knit...  I wonder if my baby monitor would connect down the street...  (JUST KIDDING!!!)  Anyway, Gayle led me to another beautiful sock yarn Sweet Georgia... and it is lovely.  I convinced myself that when I got to the end of the first skein for "Sweetness", that I could cast on my socks.  The pattern is so easy to follow and just complicated enough to keep my interest.  I love the yarn texture and I think I love the way the color is wrapping around the pattern... It sort of twists up the leg... You see what I mean?

I think I might have liked it better if the colors evenly mixed throughout... what do you think?  Harrison will give me another 15 minutes or so before he wakes up from his nap... Maybe I can get through another round on the socks... or should I finish Sweetness first? UGH!

Happy Knitting!