Northern Maine Knitter

Busy - Busy - Life is moving way to fast

2008-06-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

What a week - Prom - Class Day - Graduation - Project Graduation .....and I survived. I didn't even spend a lot of time in tears. My baby has finished high school and will enter college in the fall. Can you believe it - I will be paying tuition for three come September. Good thing Bailly finishes her Masters in December - then it will be only two.
What happy faces........now on to knitting. I have been working on a few thing. The biggest is "The Great American Afghan" I have finished 9 of 25 squares. I haven't blocked or sewing in any ends........but here is a preview.

This will be my main focus this summer. We are in the middle of packing of the house and moving so I need to plan accordingly. We sold our house in a matter of a week and the movers come July 11th. We will stay in PI until Parker heads to college - but all our belongings will go into storage (unless we luck out and find a house right off). So I need to pack up the stash and UFO's and kiss them goodbye for a period of time. What will be hard is deciding what to keep and what to put in the garage sale.

.............on a sad note.....my little puppy..........has been a bad boy............

Look........he is trying again. He started Obedience School last week ......I am hoping for big improvements. Now I have to figure out what to do with half eaten socks - maybe I will put them away and make some sock monkeys someday.

Good luck to all the Graduates of PIHS - I am proud of you all.

Some Finished Items to Share

2008-04-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

It seems all my blog time these days - which isn't a lot - is spent updating Raverly. I really have mixed emotions about keeping up both -but on the other hand - see both a value in both. Any way I wanted to share some pictures (if I can remember how).

Here is the Baby Surprise Jacket I just made with left over wool. It was so much fun to make. I think I will gift it to a coworker - soon to be grammie.

This was a felted bag I made for my son's Project Graduation Auction. I loved this and will consider making one for myself. My mother also made an item for the Auction - I don't think she would mind me sharing. It was a stained glass garden stone.

One last nonknitting item to share -

Gotta love Pups and MUD!!!!!

It's been so long

2008-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I am impressed that I remembered how to sign on. I have so many things to say and so many knitting projects to show you but the time just isn't available. I am hoping over the weekend to download some pictures and fill you in on what has been going on..........until then - enjoy your day.

I will make time ......I must.

2007-10-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe it has been since August. I have been knitting - probably more than I should - I have just not made blogging a priority. Well that is about to change - the other day was my invitation to Raverly. I couldn't wait to get started. It was really quite easy. I signed up and even added two projects. I have a lot more time to put into it but it is a start. There was even a group of Maine Knitters that I added my name to.

I used Flicker for the photos which made the loading of photos ultra easy. I wonder if Flicker can be used here. Uploading pictures seems to be the hardest part for me. On that note I will add a picture of the new baby. Bauer is almost 5 months old now - what a special guy. Here he is on his first hunting trip.

I'm back

2007-08-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

Wow - it has been way to long. I suppose trying to catch you up on what I have been up to might take too long to I guess I will touch some of the highlights.

I finished the baby sweater for my co-worker and I was very happy with it. She liked it also. Her baby boy was born July 18th.

I have two other co-workers due later in the year and I need to find a cute pattern for them. Knitting for babies is new found fun. Not instant gratification but close.

I have been busy with socks. I actually joined a Sock of the Month Club. Pick up sticks. I even joined in there blog today. Hence - better up date my blog.

Other new happenings is our new puppy - Bauer is his name and he is and 10 week old Golden Retriever - he is keeping us busy - but in a good way.

Bye for now - I will post again soon.

I have been a busy mom

2007-05-25T16:14:00.001-07:00

So much has been going on. My daughter graduated from college. I moved my son and daughter into an apartment in Southern Maine where they will both be working for the summer. B on the beach and T in a Law Firm in Portland. This is the first summer they are not home for the summer. Youngest P doesn't know what to think - he has his parents undivided attention whether he likes it or not. ......................and..........our new puppy was born a few days ago - in about 6 weeks there will be a new golden retriever puppy in our house - we are going through the "what to name" game currently.

On the knitting front. The Seize Diamond sock are finished. I really am happy how they turned out. I am a little bothered about the difference in the color of each skein. I don't know for sure if this is a freak occurrence or if it is typical in hand dyed yarn. Anyway ....here they are.

Next we have the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Gifts. This will be an on going project - mostly car knitting. I love the yarn combination - STR farm house and watermelon something.
I have also started my mother-in-law's socks. I was able to stop into Grace Robinson in Freeport the other day and found this yarn and (of course) some others. She wanted something not really wild.

...........and while in Grace Robinson I noticed a baby sweater knit out of sock yarn. I have for a long time wanted to knit a little sweater but resisted the urge because people often think it is for grandchildren. Well I hope grandchildren are a few years down the road - I do have coworkers having babies so this gives me the opportunity to knit little people stuff. Take a look.

Well that is most of what I have to share. I am saving the other yarn purchase for another post. Tomorrow P and I are off the camp to meet M - should be a lot of knitting time.

Socks- Scarf - Hudson and Bailly.

2007-05-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

First things first. One down - one to go. Here is the picture I took yesterday afternoon of the progress on my Seize Diamondback sock. Since the picture was taken I have finished the toe except for the Kitcherner stitch and weaving in the end. I just tried it on and I think it is the best fitting sock I have ever made. I can't wait to get started on the second.

On a more somber note. Our dear friend Hudson has "gone on ahead of us to get the camp ready". With out going into details - after almost 12 wonderful years of unselfish love and devotion his time with us was over. We miss you Bubbie.
Soot misses you also - I think he has finally realized Hudson is not coming back.
This will be my project as we travel this weekend. It is the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I am using two skeins of STR yarn - Farmhouse and Watermelon Tourmaline. This will be a great project for the summer. I can take my time and hopefully finish in time for the cold weather. (It has finally warmed up her in Northern Maine, 81 degrees yesterday)
Well tomorrow after Parker takes his AP History test we are off to Farmington. My baby girl is graduating from College. I am so proud of her. Her time at UMF has been wonderful. She has met wonderful friends, played on a championship soccer team, excelled in her studies and spent some time in Italy. Who could ask for anything more. After a summer of working on a beach in Southern Maine - she is off to graduate school in Boston. What a wonderful daughter I have. Thank you Bailly for being so special.

Happy Birthday Sparky

2007-04-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

My baby turns 17 today - where has the time gone.

So before the party day begins I thought I would update you on the VK cardigan.
The front bands went on better then usual. I took the time to really section off the area so to make the 90 some stitches evenly spaced. (there was a great tutorial in Knitty I referred to) I made a few changes to the pattern and am happy with the way it turned out. I have attached one of the sleeves - again happy with the results. Hopefully I will be able to attach the other today and sew the side seams. Then finishing all those ends. YUCK.....

I am still waiting for yarn goodies to arrive - will the STR yarn be first or the Jitterbug - come on Mr. Postman.

While I am waiting for Mr. Postman......

2007-04-27T02:01:00.000-07:00

I have finished the pieces of the VK Short Sleeve Cardigan. I have to buy some embroidery floss to sew the shoulder seams before I can pickup the stitches for the front bands. This is one of my least favorite steps in knitting. I am never sure how many to pick up. I have time this morning.......I should ask "Mr. Google" for some knitting advise. Here are pictures of what I have so far.

Well I wasn't terribly successful at bring the pictures in the way I planned - I wanted three across - still learning I guess - baby steps.

I think I need a new camera - that would probably help this the quality. I also hear that natural lighting helps.

Well let's hope the mail brings yarn goodies today. I am waiting for STR for my Chevron Scarf and Jitterbug for my Seize Diamondbacks. Either one would get me started on something new for the weekend. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

My First KAL

2007-04-26T02:19:00.000-07:00

My yarn for the Seize Diamondbacks is on its way. I am really excited to begin the sock and have progress to post. I have been checking post in the KAL and a few are doing two pattern repeats instead of three to make a shorter sock. This is probably what I will do - it has been along time since I have worn socks as long as the pattern shows. But who knows - once I start knitting I just might decide to make the longer version.

The yarn for the Chevron scarf is also on its way. This will be my project for road trips. I can't wait to see how this works up - I won't be in any hurry to finish this because I can happily say that spring has finally made it to Northern Maine. We still have a little snow hanging around in the yard but not a lot. I should check the gardens for new life.

I have also been spending time learning more about linking items in this blog - I am still a novice and it will take patience on my part to feel confident in what I am doing. Leaning something new takes time. Some of the blogs I read are so fantastic - there is tons of inspiration out there.

A Couple of Things

2007-04-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

Since I made Hudson pose the other day - I owe it to him. (He wants to be able to tell his friends). Well here is the handsome guy with a recent finished object. The pattern and yarn came from KnitPicks. I am not sure what I will use it for - it's current role in the house is to tie some of the odd colors I have in the house. Alas - that changed yesterday when we painted the living room - the color is awesome, exactly what I wanted. So - without further adieu - here is Hudson The 'Triever Dog" with my felted basket.

The other "thing" I wanted to show you is the sweater I am currently working on. It is from the Summer 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting. It is called "Short Sleeve Cardigan".

I am using yarn from my stash and I am pretty happy with it. The back, left front and both sleeves are done , I just started the right front so it will be a few day on that. I am going to sew it together with embroidery floss so the seams aren't so bulky. You will see what I mean when I get a picture of the progress. The yarn is a cotton tape and won't really be the best for sewing.

Well time to start my day. The sun is just about to come up and the forecast if calling for another beautiful day here in Northern Maine. Temps were in the 60's yesterday - it felt great. The two college kiddo's are home for the weekend which meant the house was full of laughter and love. Wonderful sounds.

Finished Object Ahead

2007-04-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

I finished the Market Square Bag last week. I really love the colors - I wish I could take credit for the combination but I can't - they are pretty much what the pattern had.

This bag came out smaller than the others I have made in the past. I like this size - the others were more tote size.

Here is it after felting - I should have taken more of a close up (make mental note for the future)...but you get the main idea. I even got to show off a bit of my newly painted kitchen.

I took a picture of another recently finished project but will save that for another day.

Currently I am working on a short sleeved cardigan from the most recent Vogue Knitting. I have the back, left front and one sleeve done. It shouldn't take too much longer - I am proud of myself because I used yarn from the stash.

Well I took the day off from work today to tie up some loose ends and I have only accomplished half of what I had planned......so back to it.

Enjoy your day.

Life is returning to managable

2007-04-10T01:58:00.000-07:00

Work is slowing down - the external auditors signed off on the financials yesterday which means we can - for the most part - put 2006 behind us. I was starting to feel guilty about not spending my weekends at work - but had reached the point where I needed to be focusing on other things - family and knitting come to mind.

Easter weekend was fun. B and T came home from college which always makes for a lot of fun. My three children have so much fun when they are together - P misses having his brother and sister around. It looks as though neither will be coming home for the summer. T has found a summer job in Portland and B has applied for a position. They are hoping to find an apt together. P is not looking forward to a summer where his parents watchful eyes are focused on him. The market square bag is nearing completion. I am working on the last strap. I have to weave in all the ends then felt and am getting excited to see the final product. Here are a few pictures showing the progress. I just love the colors.

I should have plenty of leftover yarn to make something else - a smaller bag or even a few felted bowls. I will have to look for some patterns.

I need to decide what my next project will be - I am thinking a sweater. It has been awhile because the last sweater I made was with cotton and I should have known better. It is to saggy - I will have to make sure it is wool. I know there is cotton out there that makes for a perfectly good sweater - I just haven't found it yet.

Well time to start my day. I think the forecast is fairly nice (but snow again tomorrow - will it ever act like spring) so I am hoping to run outside today. I am a wimp when it comes to black ice on the roadway. It hurts more now when I slip and fall - must be an age thing.

Enjoy your day everyone.

Beautiful April day in Northern Maine

2007-04-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Soot, wanna watch the snow melt with me. Sure Hud, we can do that for awhile.

Well now that the pets are busy watching the snow melt I can show you my Market Squares bag. I love the colors of this one. This is the third one I have made and I think it will be my favorite. The previous two went to two different homes, one to my SIL the other was auctioned off for my Son's Project Graduation fund raiser. They were made with Lopi yarn and turned out quite large - I have a feeling this one will felt to be a smaller bag. I hope to finish this bag in a few days. If I really love it I may donate it to another fund raiser coming up - time will tell.

I had a nice surprise in the mail today, two new book. One is for Book Group -My Life in France (Julia Child) - the other - One-Skein Wonders (Judith Durant). I have only taken a quick glance at the knitting book - it looks like I will be able to use up some of the stash.

Well I have to run - lunch hour is over so - back to the office.

Lists Added - woo hoo

2007-03-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

I am on a roll. I just added two new lists and it only took a few minutes.

One list was what is currently on the needles - I added the Market Squares bag. I plan on taking a picture today to show you my progress.

The other list is about future items I want to knit. I am excited about finally having this list. I am always coming across items that look fun and do-able but have never been organized enough to keep track of where I saw then - and we know how many places on the web there are to find great inspiration.

Yesterday I loaded my pictures on my laptop so I can show you a recent project.

These are socks I made for my father-in-law. He actually requested them - in a round about way - and I was very excited to make them for him. The pattern is from Knit Picks - the yarn also. They turned out great. I only have one in the picture because - as usual - I forgot to photograph the final pair. What do you think?

Well I just tried to put the picture after the last sentence but nooooo......it wants to go to the beginning of the post. I will have to figure out that trick. Well that's all for now.

I am back - finally

2007-03-28T02:28:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile - I know. I finally got my new laptop to make keeping up with the blog easier. I still have to load my camera software so I can add pictures but that won't take long. Life is pretty crazy at the moment. Work - crazy busy. Hockey - over - the boy were Eastern Maine Runners up - exciting finish to a season that surprised everyone. Knitting - on going. I have some projects to show you and ideas of items I want to look into. I think I will try and keep an ongoing list of "Possible Projects". It might help me be a little more organized.

Well gotta go for now - it's great to be back.

Progress on sock

2007-02-01T01:41:00.000-08:00

Well I am in the home stretch with the first sock. I am happy with it. I have continued the twist pattern on the instep - I will just have to remember not to wear it with tight shoes.

The yarn I ordered from Knitpicks came a couple of days ago. I will start Grampie's socks as soon as I finish this sock. I am anxious to begin but told myself I have to finish this sock (not pair) first. I also ordered yarn for two new felted bags that will be fun to make - but I have to be patient.......first things first.

Tonight we have a hockey game in Houlton.....the team we love to beat....so I won't have a lot of knitting time. It will be to dark while driving and having a light on in the car bothers the driver.

Next time I will try and have pictures of the finished sock, the beginning of a new sock and maybe the rest of the new yarn from Knitpicks.

New Project

2007-01-28T02:52:00.000-08:00

I finished Taylor's mittens the other day. I had to run out and buy another skein of yarn to finish about 6 rows on the thumb. I wasn't the same yarn but the color match was so close you can't tell the difference. Now I have a nice skein of alpaca for a scarf. I forgot (or coarse) to take a picture but am hoping I can get Bailly to take one when she meets up with Taylor and her Grandparents in Portland for dinner.........On to the new project.

Since the yarn I ordered for G&G's socks hasn't arrived I had to put something on the needles so I started a pair of socks. I even ventured out to try a different pattern........It is kind of hard to tell but their are cool twists in the ribbing. Here is the progress so far.

I used size 2 addis and cast on 56 stitches. I am pleased with them so far. I am not sure if I will continue the rib in the foot because sometimes that makes it to bulky in the shoe. Well I have to head to work - lots to do there and then hopefully I will be able to paint this afternoon. Tootles.

Taylor's Mittens

2007-01-24T02:41:00.000-08:00

I am almost done Taylor's second mitten (without thumbs) and I think I am going to have a problem. I am going to run out of the grey yarn. I will probably have enough for the hands but I will have to buy more for the thumbs. I am afraid my LYS is out of this color. I will have to search on line.

Yesterday I ordered yarn from knitpicks. Sock yarn for Mel and some wool for felted bags. I will have to learn how to link the items so I can show you my plans.

Well time to start my day.

The pictures I promised - I hope anyways........

2007-01-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Here are Parker's Mittens. They are Window Pane mittens knit in black and charcoal grey. Here is Parker with his mittens on .
I would love to link the pattern but I downloaded it months ago as a word document and didn't save its source. I have started Taylor's and have one almost done and will add a picture of it's progress later.

I am going to look for a new project in the next couple of days, I still have sock on order but am getting the urge to begin something else - I think something felted is in order. I will let you know what I find.

Parker has warm hands

2007-01-16T02:07:00.000-08:00

I finished his mittens and will add a picture later tonight. I am using T's laptop right now because my computer is being fixed - hopefully it is back today- and have to use mine for downloading pictures from my camera.

Next project is T's mittens. He wants red and grey. I have enough grey left from Parker's but will have to head to the LYS today for the other. I will try and link the pattern when I get them started. Every new thing is part of the blog learning curve. I will also check out the trekking yarn for socks I have been asked to make, if I can't find it there I will have to order online.

Well I want to get started on T's mittens.
Later.

Finished one mitten

2007-01-15T02:31:00.000-08:00

Well Parker is well on his way to a new pair of mittens. I finished one last night and am one thumb away from a completed pair. I will make sure I get a picture before I turn over complete ownership. I really enjoy making these WINDOW PANE MITTENS and will try and figure out how to link the pattern.

My challenge right now is to try and provide a link to RUNAGOGO - I will be very proud of myself if I can accomplish that today.

Enjoy :)

Second Day

2007-01-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

Well I am slowly leaning about this space. I made a few changes. I still don't have any pictures but it is only a matter of time. Bailly went back to UMF yesterday, her last semester as an undergrad. I am so proud of her. Her two weeks in Italy over Christmas break was well worth it, I think she came away with an appreciation of what is out there and that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

I got a lot of paining done yesterday - not sure if I will paint today because I have to head to work for a while.

Knitting..oh yeah...........this is a knitting blog. I am working on the second of Parker's pair of mittens. Might be able to finish today. We had the family over the other night and my MIL and FIL both asked for a pair of socks so I will have to add them to the list. I should set up a running list of items on this blog as a reminder of things to make. I will to that.

I DID IT.........I'M EXCITED

2007-01-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

I am going to make this a part of my day - I have been enjoying reading others knitting blogs for years, I thought it was time to step up to the plate. Runagogo was what really got me motivated. The posts I have put on their have received feedback and I really enjoyed hearing the comments............

Well I just started painting some walls this morning and I want to get back to that. I just had to get this started also.

I well spend time exploring different technical things and learn what is available to make my blog special. Be patient......it can only get better.