For your viewing pleasure...another dishcloth!

I wish that I had a wonderful picture of a completed Moderne Baby Blanket to share with you today. However, that is not the case as that would have required me to spend many many hours this weekend slaving over it. I slaved over nothing! I didn't want to have a pictureless post, so I knit up another dishcloth to give to my grandmother when her birthday rolls around in October. At the rate I am going, she is going to get like 20----but then she will have to use them. All part of my sinister plan to get back at her for stealing my cat, I will bury her house in dishcloths!


Once again, this pattern is from "The Best of Lily Dishcloths" as you know I love it so. I have a cone of this yarn that I won on ebay, I believe that it is Sugar n Cream Fairy Tale, and I am just going to make my dear Meme dishcloths until it runs out. I am almost out of patterns to try in "The Best of Lily Dishcloths" but I won't fret as I have many many many other dishcloth books. (Meanwhile, I just googled "The Best of Lily Dishcloths and my site comes in third!!!!)

Stacie sent me a beautiful round dishcloth that she made for me along with a skein of Sugar n Cream Strawberry! I was tres excited when I received it on Friday. I will get my act together and prepare it for a photo shoot, perhaps this evening.

Confession time: I have resolved myself to making a mitered square blanket and when the yarn store opens back up on Wednesday I will beging the hoarding of the Cotton Classic at the rate of two at a time. The thought of sewing together 80 squares is a little intimidating, so I am going to study up on the no sew method that Ann and Kay talk about.

I am about to revise and update my LIST. Should be a fun time...I'll let you know if any major changes arise. :-)

I've Been Tagged!!!

Stacie has tagged me to play along, so here goes:

Six Interesting Things About Me:

1. As of today, I have read 41 books this year.

2. I work in drug discovery where I run a liquid handling robot and maintain a repository of plant extract samples.

3. I am double jointed in all of my fingers and my right hip.

4. My natural hair color is brown (I was a blonde child) but I've highlighted it for so long that I don't remember what it looks like.

5. I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue.

6. Without glasses or contacts I am legally blind.

I am supposed to tag six bloggers but I don't know six bloggers, so if you are reading this then consider yourself tagged!!!

I hope to have a FO to post on Monday!!!

3 Dishcloths

I finally finished Block 8 on my baby blanket last night. I haven't been working on it as diligently as I should be as I've been distracted by the dishcloth. I don't know what their allure is, but I want to make them all the time. Could it be that my calling is to populate the world with cotton dishcloths???

The Nine Patch from Mason Dixon Knitting:
















This is a fabulous way to use up scraps of cotton from other projects. FABULOUS!

Dishcloth for the Cat Stealer (I love her anyway):















This is from the Best of Lily Dishcloths and I am happy to say it is INTERMEDIATE! Whoo Hoo!!! Now it did take me quite a while to finish it but that is only because I was a chicken and would only do 2 rows at a time. I am fearless now!!

Finally, the Mid-Month KAL for the yahoo group, Monthly Dishcloths:















Stacie helped me on the yarn over's for this one so they finally show up half way though. Maria says that is a dishcloth that I will likely use now that it isn't perfect! She is probably right, and I like it anyway. You can find the pattern here. I find it to be a very delightful pattern and it looks much more complicated than it actually is. Did you cable that dishcloth?? Why, yes I did!

Wednesday is Knit Wit's birthday, the BIG 3-0. I think I'll make her a dishcloth. (The shawl is on hold until Christmas, for anybody that is wondering.)

And the List Goes On

As if 27 projects weren't enough I have been looking through the archives of Knitty and found even more wonderfully fun projects that I desire to make my own!

1. Tempting
2. Tempting II
3. Shocking Pink Coif
4. Latifa
5. Party Apron

I so love the party apron, and think that every aspiring domestic diva should definitely have one. When I get around to making it in 4 or 5 years I will SO wear it!

And as for this, all I can say is Why???

Not much going on here except it is HOT HOT HOT. It is so hard to throw my blanket up in my lap and knit a few rows because I almost go into heat exhaustion. Will somebody please remind me why I got the bright idea to knit a blanket in July??? Please???

I did force myself to knit on the afore mentioned blanket last night while I was watching the tangled mess that is the Tour de France this year. Since they wouldn't let my man play this year, I am basically watching for the sheer entertainment value. Oh yeah, and to root against him...

Two more dishcloths are almost completed and once they have had their photo shoot I will post them here for your viewing pleasure.

A Beauty Modeling a Scarf

Modeling a scarf in July is not recommended, but here I am doing it anyway, for the good of the readers of my blog! This is another scarf that I have produced for The Think Pink Challenge. I have been crocheting them so that they will be finished quicker and I won't spend too much time away from my Moderne Baby Blanket. It is coming along nicely, as I am on Block 8. It is getting so big, so I don't really like to travel so much with it. Therefore, I didn't take it over to Jason's for a photo shoot last night. I am thinking that I will let the suspense build up and will post the next photo of it when it is finished. Hopefully, that won't be too much longer...

So, I broke down and placed an order with Elann.com on Friday. I am tres excited and can't wait until it arrives!!! I ordered the latest object of my affection, the Denise Interchangeable Needle Kit. I also ordered enough yarn to make two items for Christmas, 3 Birch crochet hooks, and a crochet hook sack.

Here is my scarf trying out to be the Breast Cancer Spokes-scarf:

I have another skein of this same yarn that I am going to use to make another scarf for Think Pink Challenge. I really like the way that this one turned out. I got the basic idea for the scarf from the book, Hooked On Crochet, but I didn't add the fringe or make it 72 inches long.

I'm Good at Planning...

Yes, it's true. I am a planner extraordinaire! So far I have PLANS to make 27 projects! EEK! A lot of these projects are Christmas related, but a lot of them aren't. I am ready to branch out in my skills and really want to make the following items:

1. Ballet Camisole
2. Picovoli
3. Twitterpated
4. Green Gables
5. Ms. Marigold

Aren't I ambitious!!! I have gone so far as to pick out my yarns and colors. Planning can be quite fun!!

I have not ever made a piece of clothing and I think that I might can handle a pattern labeled "intermediate" as I am feeling quite intermediate after my successful picking up of the stitches for my Modern Baby Blanket. Any encouragement would be welcomed!!!

As promised, here is a picture of the ongoing project also known as Mary Heather's version of the Moderne Baby Blanket:


I finished up Block 5 last night, so this evening I will pick up stitches for Block 6 and get going with that one. I am really happy with the way that it is turning out! HOORAY.

I am not sure who the recipient is going to be yet. I thought that I would give it to a girl in my book club who is due in September, but Jason's cycling buddy's wife is expecting so I may give it to them instead. There are many patterns that I have found for baby blankets lately that I want to try, so book clubber's baby most likely won't get left out!

On an aside, I have been lusting after this bag now for longer than I can remember. I love it! While I was yarn shopping online I also came across these and since my circular needles leave MUCH to be desired, I am now lusting after them as well.

I finished up my first scarf for The Think Pink Challenge yesterday when I went home for lunch. I think that it turned out very pretty and cozy, even if it is acrylic! I am going to make some more progress on my blanket and then I am going to get some more pink yarn and make another scarf. I'd like to make 3 all totaled. I think that I can handle that. I mean, what is another project or two when you are talking about 27...

Progress! and an Evening with Knit Wit

Mostly this weekend I worked on the Moderne Baby Blanket from the Mason Dixon Knitting book that I alluded to last time I posted. I have overcome my fear of picking up stitches and I am now on Block 5!!! I was afraid that the Simply Soft would not hold it's shape, and for the most part, that is true, but I have found that I am able to correct the irregularities when I am picking up stitches. I hope to have it ready for a WIP photo shoot this evening, with a picture to post tomorrow!

Between not working on Brinn's poncho and working on my modern baby blanket I was also able to complete the monthly dishcloth KAL dishcloth:


I went over to Knit Wit's house yesterday evening and watched Prime. The urge to slit my wrists was overwhelming, but luckily I was working with a plastic crochet hook, so no damage to my veins was done. Maria found The Think Pink Challenge and we have both pledged to make some scarves for this worthy cause. I took the scarf I was working on (using Simply Soft Quick in Watermelon) over to Knit Wit's house even though she has an aversion to pink.


She made it through the night unscathed by all of the pink in her domain, but it must have gone to her head because when we went to Wal-Mart so that I could buy another skein of yarn for the scarf, she bought herself a maternity top. (FYI-Knit Wit is not with child.) Said maternity top is cute, I have been forced to admit, but when you get right down to it, it is still a maternity top on a non-maternal girl! For a good laugh you should check out her new blog Deep Thoughts by Knit Wit. It has a very catchy poem about none other than yours truly.

I would show you a picture of the progress that is coming along on Knit Wit's shawl, but so far all I've done is take the yarn out of the bag...

You may recall from about a month and a half ago the dishcloth set that I started making for my grandmother and my aunt for Mother's Day/Birthday. I finally finished one of the dishtowels, and it is looking highly unlikely that I will do another one due to the fact that it was incredibly boring. I would post a picture of the finished towel, but as it progressed my gauge got looser and looser and the finished product looks more like a trapezoid than a rectangle. *sigh*

I joined up with Project Finish Knit about 2 weeks ago. I usually don't have a problem finishing what I start, as mostly it is dishcloths! But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to work on that stupid towel or the poncho that I am making for Brinn. I hate the yarn that I am using for the poncho as it is novelty from Hobby Lobby and makes my fingers feel very yucky after I've knit about 4 rows. (I am very particular about the way my hands feel.) Therefore, I have been MAKING myself work on the poncho. 5 rows per day, that is all that I am willing to give.

Last Tuesday I drug Knit Wit along to Tupelo for the Hobby Lobby sale. I wanted to get some of the (yarn snobs look away now) $.99 Simply Soft for a Modern Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. I started it when we got home that night because I am really excited to make one, but I am still on the first square! I am nervous about picking up stitches, but I have convinced myself that this should be no different than crochet, so I am planning to tackle it this evening.

Knit Wit also finagled a HELLO KITTY dishcloth pattern for me. Euphoria quickly ensued and once I get something finished I am going to cast that lovely on! WOO HOO! I even went out and bought some $6 cotton yarn especially for it. (Maria thinks that I have a problem!) I have also attempted to convert this dishcloth pattern into baby blanket size. We will see how this goes, but my engineer boss says that it should work. If not, it's all on his head. Lucky for him there is plenty of room up there as he seems to have misplaced the better part of his hair.

I have had some questions about whether I have gotten my cat yet. Well, as it turns out, my grandmother is a cat stealer. I always suspected this about her, and I was right on the money. Wave a Himalayan cat or a baby around in front of her and she can't be held responsible for her actions.