Slowing down. . . . .

Hmmm, this lace is taking longer than I expected! I won't have this finished this week like I originally thought. . . .

. . . but that might be because I cast on for this. . .

. . . and I already got this much knit!!!!

I really need to get some more large white poster board. Kristen came home from school with some last week to do a project and I found it was great to use as a background when taking my knitting pics. She took it back to school yesterday and well. . . . from these pictures, you can obviously tell!

Making Good Progress!

I got gauge! Had to move up a needle size, but I was good to go on Friday, so I cast on for the Surplice Bodice Camisole!

And as you can see, I've made good progress! I got the back finished by Saturday morning, and by Sunday night I had completed the left and right front, and picked up the stitches around the neck and armholes.

I now have to pick up stitches from the bottom cast on edge to start the lace pattern. The pattern says to do this in two parts, back then front - but I think I will pick up and knit in the round (as someone suggested they would do on Ravelry, if they knit this again) to eliminate any side seams. At this rate, I might have this finished by the weekend :-)

Oh, and I keep forgetting to tell you what my mystery photo was! Peaknit was right, it's a hat - staying on the 'band wagon' I had to try out Si Capitan just to see how it would turn out! I'm not much of a hat wearer so I doubt I will be wearing this, but Kristen looked kinda cute in it. If I knit this again I think I'd make the brim a little shorter for her, and use nicer yarn (this was just a test with some Lion Brand acrylic I had in stash!).

Jingle Bells . . . . .

I have the tune of Jingle Bells in my head. . . . because it feels like Christmas again! Today my books arrived from Amazon - finally, although still a total surprise because I had tracked the package this morning and it was still showing details as 'departure scan - Feb 19, Hazelwood, MO!

Now I can start this. . . .and here's a close up. . . .

First I have to check my gauge, and recheck it and check it again!! I have a confession to make - I rarely check gauge :-o shock, horror! I know I know, but usually I'm knitting baby clothes and if anything it comes out just a tad larger, which is never a problem for babies cos they grow so fast. But of course I want this particular garment to fit well - very well, so I won't cast on until I know for sure my gauge is right.

Also arrived today, some cotton yarn I won on Ebay this week!

This is Cascade Cotton Rich. 4 white, 3 navy and one violet like color. Not sure what I'll use it for yet, I'm thinking perhaps some Itty Bitty Hats (at some point this year!).

OK, I'm off to knit!

It feels like Christmas!

It's arrived - my very first 'online' order! The other week I received a Knit Picks catalog in the mail. One of the things that caught my eye was the Surplus Bodice Camisole from the Knitting Lingerie book. I've seen this before and really like it. Then I did a search on Ravelry and looked at everyone else's and liked it even more. I decided that it was time to knit something for .... ME!


The yarn they recommend at Knit Picks was 'Main Line' (75% pima cotton, 25% merino wool). I chose a neutral color called Butter Pecan.

The top picture actually shows the more true color (below looks a little greenish (on my monitor anyway!). Now I just need to wait for the book that I ordered from Amazon! Knit Picks had it for the same price but I had a voucher to use at Amazon so I got it from there. Only prob is I opted for free shipping (7 days ago) . . . . . . and I'm still waiting!

I can't wait to get started though so I've already started a swatch to check my gauge :-) I also ordered some Shine Worsted, and the other stuff is some wool and DK just to top up my order so I could get free shipping.



Hmmm! And what could this be? Better get it finised before my book arrives!!

All Done!

What a great quick knit these are :-) I finished the second mitt yesterday and had my daughter (7yrs old) pose with them! I made mention on Ravelry about the modifications I made on these - I basically added a 3rd repeat before the thumb to make the cuff longer, but then I accidentally added a second repeat after the thumb instead of doing just one pattern. This was because I was reading the pattern wrong - where it said a total of 3 repeats, I thought it meant 'after' the thumb, then I realized that would make it far too long, and as I was already on to the second repeat by then I just finished it off and started the cuff. What I like about how this turned out is that the mitt actually covers a lot of my fingers (which you can see from the picture in yesterday's post) but I also like that you can turn back the cuff if you want a shorter mitt (like you can see in the below picture. I also used size 6 dpn's instead of size 7, so they are a nice snug fit on me, but my 7 yr old daughter can wear them also :-)

I've already cast on for a second pair using some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran I have.

Email Probs...

Yes! to anyone wondering about my email, I am having problems at the minute. Hubby is trying to forward my email from denise@deniseschulz.com to my austin account, but it's not sending it yet?!! He's still working on it.

If you need to/would like to email me, try deniseschulz@austin.rr.com

I had to do it. . . . . .

. . . . . jump on the 'bandwagon' that is! I have seen these all over bloggy land this past week , and I just couldn't resist making a pair. I especially love these, and these! I used Patons Classic Wool Merino, color is 'dark grey mix'. It's hard getting a good picture of your own hand. I will try to take a better picture once the other one is done and then add them to my Ravelry account.

I haven't done much knitting this past week (other than the mitt yesterday) because I was busy painting our 'upstairs game room'. I'm glad to say it's all done now (I'll be posting pictures soon on my daily blog) and I just have to buy a few pictures for the wall and a rug. Then I have the task of organizing all our (c!@#p) stuff in to the lovely Billy Bookshelves we bought at IKEA :-)

With all that said, I'm off to knit another Evangeline - have a great weekend!

Some new WIP's!

I've been updating my Ravelry account with some of the new knits I've started. Most of what I'll be knitting this year will be Christmas gifts or birthday gifts, so I don't want to show much on here.

Here's a couple of pictures showing just a 'little peak'! If you don't have a Ravelry account chances are you are either family or a close friend and the said 'gifts' may be for you, so you shouldn't be looking here anyway ;-)



One item I can comment on is the Summertime Tunic that I am trying to knit again. I started this project last year but it was coming out way too big so I frogged it and put it aside for a while. I thought I'd cast on again and do the smaller size and see what happens. I can't say I like the yarn I'm using - Classic Elite Classic Silk. It leaves little 'bits' all over my sweater when I'm knitting it (especially noticeable if I have on a dark sweater or tshirt!). Not much of a picture to show, but this is all I have done so far......

That's all the updates I can show for now!