Going to the City!

Hey everyone!   I have the Yankees/White Sox game on TV.    But on Sunday, I will be in NYC at Yankee Stadium near the Yankees bullpen about 12 rows away from the field.   So if you see a knitting chick with very excited friends and various very excited children of friends, that would be me.     It is the Old Timer's Game so we are getting there early for the festivities.    It is my first time at the stadium so it should be fun.  

Their farm team, Scranton, has been itinerant this year because of the flooding last year.    They have played some of their home games at the Syracuse Chiefs field.   Syracuse is the farm team for the Washington Nationals.   I made it to one Chiefs game this year and will probably make it to a few more.   Usually you can find some free tickets through various organizations.   (i.e. Girl Scout night or whatever).

On the knitting front, I am still working on my Cherry Bomb sweater.   I am almost done with the waist shaping.   I just started on the third skein of Patons Grace.    The next section will be the short-row bust shaping.    I am going to have to do three repeats of that section.


The other news is I have purchased yarn here and there over the last few weeks.   Our Tuesday Morning store will be closing at the end of the month.  I bought some yarn.  Asland Trends Samta Fe in pretty Tango Reds.   I also bought Wisdom Yarns Marathon Socks Twin Cities.  

Aslan Trends Santa Fe

Wisdom Yarns Marathon socks Twin Cities

I went to the CNY Fiber Festival in the early part of June.   It was raining the day I went, but it was in tents and good fun!   I bought Springside Farm handpainted alpaca.

Springside Farm Alpaca

I also bought some Brown Sheep seconds from Pollywogs.   They were at Rhinebeck last fall.   They are also usually at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival in September.   They are nice people, too.

Then, I stopped at the Stitch Ups booth.    The owner lives in the town where I do.   She sews the most beautiful bags you will ever find including a sock knitting bag.   I have that purchase on my list at the next festival she is at!    I bought some Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering Weight in a beautiful kettle-dyed blue/black colorway.

Farmhouse Yarns Fannie's Fingering Weight

Next time, I will tell you about the second trip to Tuesday morning and tonight's trip to Joann's.   (Hint, the words "50% off Clearance prices" might have lured me in.)

  

Tuesday Night Game

Today was an untypical Tuesday.  I got my hair colored and cut.   You will have to wait until I record for the podcast to see the change.   As I walked in the door at home, the Yankees game against Atlanta was starting on TV.   I grabbed my Cherry Bomb sweater and watched the game.  I knitted about 3 inches.   I am up to the straight stockinette section in the waist shaping.    So far, I have only used two skeins of Patons Grace.  

Sunday Afternoon

I have not blogged for quite a while so I thought, what the heck.    Why not?    Well, I have started two sweaters, Bombshell by Stephanie Japel and Cherry Bomb by Joan McGowan-Michael.    They are both from the book, Big Girl Knits.    Today was the day to work on the Cherry Bomb.    I chose to not do a front and a back separately, but am doing the sweater in the round.   I hate seaming and frankly, it hates me.    The yarn I am using is Patons Grace in a blue-yellowy-white colorway.   It was something I bought on sale last summer, thinking I would knit Wendy Bernard's Slinky Ribs.    Yeah, the ribbing at the top of that sweater it nice, but Patons Grace does not fill in the gaps between the stitches like the Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool would.   I did not want to redo the arithmetic of the pattern to upsize it a little either.    

So Cherry Bomb got some love today.    I watched two movies that happened to be on TV this afternoon.    Flight of the Phoenix, with Dennis Quaid and Someone Like You with Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman.     I love the latter movie, chick flick, and all.   I am born romantic.    The sweater is progressing nicely.   I lengthened the distance between the hem and the start of the waist shaping.    I like a sweater that is a little longer.    We will see how this goes.    I have knit the Shapely Tee before and while it was okay, the short rows at the bust were not exactly what I was envisioning.   

Episode 25 - Short & Sweet

Snow Shawl

Neither wind nor rain shall keep me from my appointed rounds.   Or in this case, rows as it is a semicircular shawl and not a true circular shawl.   I am working on my Skywalker shawl.   The pattern is by Laura Nelkin.   I am taking her class "Mastering Lace Shawls" on Craftsy.com.   I am in the middle of the Planet Stitch section.    Then, more Plasma Stitch and the Nova Edging.    I love the class.  

I am really jazzed (jazz hands - come on, you know you want to) about a new app I am using on the Itouch called JKnits Lite.   It has a highlighter bar that I am using for the charts and it is FABULOUS and free!

Interweave Sale

Until January 24, 2012, Interweave is having a winter sale of up to 60% off. I just purchased the digital download of a Knitting Daily Workshop. The class is Knitting from the Top Down with Wendy Bernard. It includes the video class and two printable patterns. One pattern is for a cardigan and the other is for a pullover. I have been seriously considering buying the first Custom Knits book and thought about purchasing the digital download. It is normally $14.99, but was on sale for $7.47. Did I mention how much I like video classes on the computer when in Syracuse, New York it is "warming up" to 35 degrees F on Saturday?

Netflix streaming on the computer is also a favorite. I am on season 10 of SG-1. Next on the agenda is Stargate Atlantis and the 2nd and 3rd movies in the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series. They are in Swedish, but that only adds to the plot. I read the first book and watched the first movie. Fantastic!

Snow!

(I also posted this entry in the Knits Up? podcast group on Ravelry.com)

In Central New York, we had the first big snowfall of the season. Between Thursday night and this morning (Saturday), we got at least a foot of snow. I shoveled enough so I could get my Dad (whom I live with) could get the snowblower out. This snowblower is vintage. It was bought in 1978 which was the winter I was in second grade. Nothing runs like a Deere.

I spent the morning (okay I woke up at 11am) organizing my yarn stash. Wow, I have a lot of yarn. So 2012 will be the year of the stash. No new yarn purchases unless I can buy it at Joann's with the gift card my Dad got me for Christmas.

I have two large bins and one blanket chest sized bin which contain all the yarn. Okay, I don't count the WIP of the Webs sweater which is in my Hermosa bag. I also have two pairs of socks in progress.

Also on the circular needle, is my Skywalker Shawl in Berroco Alpaca Fine in the Potting Soil colorway. I am taking Laura Nelkin's Mastering Lace Shawls class on Craftsy.com. I know how to knit lace, but frankly, it is a very relaxing endeavor to knit a shawl and be able to see someone demonstrate a technique I am not familiar with.

I finally made a break for it this afternoon to get to a yarn shop and Walmart. I bought an Addi Turbo Lace Needle US size 5 in the 40 inch length and a KnitScene magazine which had three easy lace shawls. Walmart was the usual delight it is following a snowstorm. Screaming toddlers, people buying beer and shovels, but mostly just shoppers trying to avoid the mass of humanity that finally got out of their driveways.

What is everyone else working on?

The Winter Butterfly

I started knitting a shawlette last night. The pattern I am using is The Monarch Shawl by Denise @ Lost City Knits. The yarn is Blind Buck Farm's yarn Fall. I bought one skein of this DK weight yarn at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival 2011 in Rhinebeck. I am through one of the three sections of the pattern and about half way through the second. It is a fast knit. I love the feel of the yarn which is 30% Mohair and 70% Romney Wool and is dense.

Better photos will be coming soon once the shawl is finished and blocked.