Poppies!

More fun flowers to adorn our hats, bags, sweaters . . . http://www.magknits.com/warm04/patterns/poppy.htm

Row 69

Well, I am finally coming to the end of the pattern on our pillow. I had a difficult time trying to figure out how to photograph it, so you could see it. I love the colors, and how they look together; that's the good news. The hmmmmm, of the moment is the fact that the yarn is thinner in some places than others, which causes an "open" look to the yarn at places. I am sure you will see the pillow form underneath--do you have any suggestions?
I also am interested in hearing about the process you used for blocking . . . I love to knit, but the finishing details of these projects . . . let's just say, I am not that great! As always, your input is much appreciated!

WOTA subs for Lite Lopi

Since I have nothing better to do...

I compared colors for WGS, and this is what I think...

Black Heather=Charcoal
Crimson=Red
Cherry Red=Cherry Blossom
Burnt Red=Iron Ore or Cranberry
Dark Grass=Asparagus
Golden Green=Fern
Goldenrod=Wheat
Bright Blue=Winter Night
Light Fuchsia=Tulip
Pumpkin=Pumpkin
Royal Blue=Blue Bonnet
Mustard=Daffodil
Leaf=Avocado
Bright Purple=Violet

New Book

Did y'all know about this new book? I found it on Amazon. It hasn't been released yet, but I put it on my wish list for Christmas. I am so exicted. It would be fun to get this book and knit items for our blog!!

Jenni

The Satchel!

Hi All,

I've been insanely busy at work, and I've had a bad cold, so I haven't had much knitting-related activity going on. I was thrilled to get home tonight to find my copy of the Fall 2005 IK had arrived. Now I've looked at the Weekend Getaway Satchel pattern up close and I'm even more enthusiastic than I was before.

I also, for kicks, created an alternate FlowerPower button, in the event that people want to change up the look from time to time. (It looks a lot more fuzzy here than it does on my blog. Don't know why.)

Hope all's well.

Sarah

My Yarn Has Arrived!

I got my yarn in from Knit Picks the day before Thanksgiving. The blue is prettier than I imagined and it is soooo soft. This is only the second time I have knitted with the new Knit Picks yarn. The first yarn I tried was Andean Treasure and although very soft and beautiful, I thought it was mediocre. It had very little elasticity and it was difficult to maintain even tension in sockinette. This batch is Andean Silk. We'll see how it goes. I am starting on my poncho tonight. After looking over my pattern and doing a swatch, I think it will come together quickly!

Rose Pillow

I have also started the Rose Pillow and have tried a few yarns for the roses. I originally tried the recommended Lion Brand Suede but found it too difficult to work with and too time consuming to fight with. I also tried the Lion Brand Homespun which was pretty but have now decided on a simple Bernat Chunky yarn in a dusty rose. It is simple and gives a different look to the roses. I have been working on the roses at night and can usually get a few done in one sitting and I have my actual pillow part at work to knit at lunch while I visit with my colleagues (just as well, because that stockinette stitch is terribly boring). I am fairly confident that I can get this done for Christmas (oh, no! I just jinxed myself)

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

Here are the roses I've knit so far for the Nicky Epstein Rose Pillow in Holiday VK. I have to give my hands a break from this Lion Suede. It is wreaking havoc on them. They start to hurt after knitting with it for a while. This is all five of the colors I plan to use. The top row, left to right, is: eggplant, garnet, orchard, rose, and fuchsia.

Second Pillow, Any One?

I've been knitting my second Clapotis over the past day, so I've been ignoring my flower pillow. Has anyone started?

I bought a package of clothes pins today, which I plan to use as bobbins. I'll report in on whether that works or not.

Also, a question: Has anyone ever seen black stuffing (poly or cotton)? When I made the bunny last weekend in black yarn, I used left over black Lopi to stuff it. I'd prefer not to use good yarn to stuff toys, but if I stuff a dark-yarned item with white material, it's going to show through. I'm hoping there's a good alternative.

Jenni's Wish List

I would like to do the small brown interweave bag and I am also interested in this hat pattern. I have some hand-dyed wool and silk that I bought in Taos that I think would look great. The pattern can be found on the anti-craft website.

Fabulous, Felted, and Flowery

This is another one of the projects that Melissa and I want to do.
Weekend Getaway Satchel (Marta McCall)
Reynolds Lite-Lopi (l00% wool; 109 yd [100 m]/50 g): #0005 black heather (MC), 15 skeins; #0434 crimson, 5 skeins; #0439 cherry red, #0414 burnt red, #0444 dark grass, #0240 golden green, #0435 goldenrod, #0443 bright blue, #0438 light fuchsia, #0436 pumpkin, #0442 royal blue, #0264 mustard, #0441 leaf (light green), and #0440 bright purple, 1 skein each. All colors are used double throughout. Yarn distributed by JCA Inc.

Susan's Flower Wish List

These are just a few of the flower projects that Melissa and I have been talking about. The bag on the right is from Interweave Knits Fall '04. It is Nicky Epstein's Floral Bag. It is knit with » What I really want to knit next: from the Fall 2004 Interweave Knits: The Floral Felted Bag by Nicky Epstein. Yum.
It uses the following yarns: Jamieson’s Shetland Double Knitting (100% wool; 150 yd [137 m]/1 oz [28 g]): #235 grouse (dark brown), 4 skeins; #365 chartreuse, #1140 Granny Smith, #540 coral, #576 cinnamon, #577 chestnut, #1190 burnt umber, and #147 moss, 1 skein each. Yarn distributed by Simply Shetland.



This next bag is Nicky Epstein's Flower Basket Bag from Vogue Knitting Winter '04-'05. Melissa Joon and I have joined a Knitalong for this bag, but we haven' t started it. We may substitute Mauch Chunky or LP Bulky for the Tahki Stacy Charles "baby" that it calls for. I swatched it, and need to use 17's instead of 15's.

Another flower project is from VK Holiday '05. It is this "Russian Pillow" I have no specs on it handy.






We're also working on starting the Nicky Epstein Roses pillow that is in that same issue. It's knit with Lion Suede. I think we're going to make it Multicolored and use "Orchard" for the pillow and flowers, and then "Rose,"Fuchsia," "Eggplant," and "Garnet" for the roses.

Done(ish)

I finished knitting my Large Flower pillow this morning. I'm really happy with it. The loden blue equivalent is really rich. I have a feeling this pillow will live much of its life back-to-front.

Did anyone else find the button-hole row to be strangely written? It may be my specific cognitive deficiency, but I could not get even placement of the holes by following [K10 (BO3, K9) 5 times, K1]. I ended up with an excess of stitches at the end of the row. I wanted to have 10 stitches at each end and nine stitches between the holes so I ignored the instructions and just did it by eye.

Button?

I've got a possible button for our blog, at least for starters. I might try to make a better one soon. Here it is...

Eight Rows to Go

I'm on the buttonhole row, so I'll be done soon. Of course, I thought I'd be done this morning, but I've had to frog twice. For reasons that are unclear to me, I can't count today.

It's miserable weather here, maybe that's why. Hope everyone else is enjoying drier climes.

My Large Flower Pillow is Finished

I finished it Saturday night, because I wanted to take it furniture shopping with me. I still need to do the embroidery and seam it up, get buttons, etc. I am liking it better.

I want to start the Circle Flower Pillow. I need to make my bobbins. There are a lot of color repeats, and I hate carrying yarn across. It looks too bulky.

Melissa, I got some Lion Suede to try the roses. I'll see if I like them.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Knit on, ya'll!
susan

I'm Still Here...

Hi everyone. I have been so busy at work that I have not been able to focus on my pillow as much as I wish. Plus, the mittens I am knitting are also crying for my attention, so..... I am currently on Row 39. Very proud of this accomplishment, I must say. When I realized that I was a third of the way through, I did a little happy dance. On the weekend, I did end up ripping back all of the charted work and starting over. I took out the 2 rows of dove grey and went with the gold over 7 rows instead. I am enjoying the colors and think they will look great once I do the embroidery. I can't wait to get to the next pillow, as purple is my favorite color in the whole spectrum and am eager to get my hands on that blackberry.

Where I'm At

I hadn't been able to get to this project since Thursday, so it was really nice to come home yesterday afternoon and get back into it. I like the way it's knitting up, but I am nervous about the embroidery to come. I've never really done any before and it doesn't make sense to my brain and fingers the way knitting does. I think I'll likely knit both pillows before starting any stitchery.

So far my Lopi is making me quite happy. The only thing that's not great is that the cocoa is not spun very tight, so I do have to be careful not to break the yarn, but other than that it's working well. I've just started Row 79 of the chart, so while the work could be spread to its full width, I thought I'd take a picture or two.

It is going to be a re-DO . . .

As I was knitting away--well into row 30-something of the chart--- I could not shake this re-occurring thought: I don't like how these colors look!!! So, yesterday, in between a million other things, I went to this yarn shop which has been in business for 85 years (and I don't think it has changed in one way since it opened!) It is not my favorite place to go, and yet when I am stuck, I seem to be a able to find it there. Here's the real treat: you may find exactly what you are looking for, in the wrong color and then you ask them and they say "Let me check upstairs" and after 45 minutes they return with what you need or want. And the very old married couple are the only people who work there, and they know EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING. Well, I was on the hunt, and found something that I think might do the trick. Heathery and soft, it is French wool called: Neigeuse. I only bought 4 skeins (they are holding the rest) because I wanted to knit and think before re-investing in more yarn. The colors above replace my tahiti teal (back of the pillow) and ruby red (big flower). It swatched perfectly, and I love it. Soooo, it is a re-do for me and back to the crazy knitting store for the rest of the yarn!

We're Growing!

Yarn Pics

I picked my yarn for for the poncho. I chose "bluebell" and "yarrow" --nice flower colors. Yarrow will be for the trim and flower accent. I figure I can wear it with a white long sleeve tee, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. Now I just have to wait until my yarn arrives in the mail.

My Flower Power Project

I've picked a poncho to knit for my project. It is from the same fall issue of Interweave Knits as the pillow. It has a little crocheted flower on the front. It is very "Flower Power". I am going to pick out and order my yarn from Knit Picks today. I haven't jumped on the poncho bandwagon yet. This one looks so cute, flattering, and fast that I couldn't resist.

By the way...it is balmy down here in Texas. I wish it would get cold soon.

Row 48 on the Chart

This is my PIP (Pillow in Progress) through row 48 of the chart. I guess I'm liking it okay!

Maybe I'll like it better once it becomes a pillow. I do like the contrast between the cocoa and garnet and I really like that gold. I think I don't love those marled/quattros of the olive and dove grey. I wish they were solid or just heathered.

I want to see what ya'll have done!

Knit on, ya'll
xoxox
susan

26 Rows Down, 73 to go

Here is my current progress on the Large Flower Pillow. I've done through Row 26 on the chart.

I blew up my chart today, and colored it (I obviously had a black and white copy). It makes it much easier to read. I cut out just the charts and enlarged to 155%. It takes up a whole sheet of paper, but is much clearer!

Knit on, Ya'll!
Susan

A G*R*I*T*S (Girl Raised In The South) who knits....
Who's not loving 80 degree weather in November. I want fall to come back!

The Chart! The Chart!

Here's how my first seven rows are looking. The colour in the photo isn't great. I'm actually quite happy with it.

I'm off to bed. This close work is killing my eyes.

Night all.

12 3/4 inches...Down and out!

I've finished the back of the Large Flower Pillow. I've made bobbins of the yarn. I'm ready to start the chart. I wrote out the first couple of rows. I'll see if I can read the chart okay, or if I need my cheat sheet. Probably the cheat sheet! I tried to post photos, but Blogger is not cooperating. Here is a link.

Hopefully I can post the photo to the blog tomorrow.

hugs to all,
susan

Blog vs. Knit

It is painful to me that I can blog about knitting from work, but I can't actually knit at work.

I am so happy to be a part of this knit-along! This is the first time I have ever joined a knit along, and I am really enjoying all of you already!
I have sent Susan a photo of my yarn choices so she can post it--I promise to learn how to post a photo myself! In the mean time, I wanted you to see what I chose. I love the ruby red, silver silver and loden leaf; the chianti, roasted coffee and tahiti teal looked great in the yarn shop, but now that it is home with me , , ,hmmmmmmm. The khaki and gold are fine, I think. I chose to use Brown Sheep: my yarn shop has a great choice of colors, and I like the way it knits for projects like this! The guage is 4.5 per inch on an 8 needle, which is what I will work up to see if it matched the pattern. I can't wait to cast on!

As a point of reference, all of the colors I chose look like the leaves falling in Pennsylvania right now!

Melissa Joon's Yarn

Sarah's Yarn

I chose Lopi Lite. I've knit with it before and like it. I have a really old digital camera, so my pictures aren't going to be tremendous for the time being. I'm hoping to get a new camera fairly soon.


In a fit of procrastination, I've (poorly) indicated on a map of North America where the four of us (so far) in the KAL live. If I've made a mistake, let me know. I've done this by memory and my brain is a bit soft these days.

What Warm Welcome... and Boy, Do I Need It

Hello everyone. Thank you for such a warm welcome, and boy do I need it. It is freezing in my neck of the woods (Northern Alberta), bbrrrrrrrrr. Well, I am on a strict budget by hubby due to vacation in January to Hawaii so I bought just basic Bernat and Patons yarn. The colors are quite lovely and I can't wait to see how everyone's project turns out.

Welcome Jenny!

We're so glad you're here!

Susan

Susan's Yarn

This is the yarn I got for the pillows. I think the colors are a little bolder than the ones shown at IK. I may hit my "far" LYS to see what they have!
I couldn't find anything good for the "blackberry", and ended up with Quattros for the dove gray and the olive. I like my garnet and gold (Go 'Noles!), and my loden and woodsmoke subs. I'm just not so sure about that for the blackberry (bottom left)

What do ya'll think?

Welcome to the Flower Power Knitalong!

We will be working on these pillows from Interweave Knits Magazine's Members Only Patterns. We're starting with the Large Flower Pillow. Come and knit pillows with us!

What We're Knitting

These are the Flower Pillows from the Fall 2005 Interweave Knitting. We've each chosen different yarns, so our pillows are going to look both differen from these and from each others'.

We have a Blog!

This is very exciting.