Blocking Practice

Since I want to one day knit myself a garment I decided that I'd better learn to block. I joined the Dishcloth Knit Along (b/c I am knitting them anyway!) so I thought that dishcloths would be the logical place to start. Different patterns can look pretty wadded up when they are completed.

I knit the Valentine Heart Cloth and made a makeshift 'blocking board' out of a craft project gone awry, a corkboard tile that I covered in some chenille fabric. I layed a paper towel over the fabric so that if any dye wanted to be exchanged in the process it would not get onto the dishcloth or the corkboard (who knows, I might find a use for it one day).


This is not a perfect attempt as I did not even attempt to use a ruler, but you gotta start somewhere. My goal is to get one of those little boards with the lines on it that people use to cut out sewing patterns. Maybe I'd better learn what they are called before I go looking for one, as cardboard board with the lines on it is not exactly the correct terminology. :-)

Getting Started

I love to go home and see packages of yarn on my doorstep. You can surely imagine my delight when I went home today and this was waiting on me.

This is Noro Silk Garden and the color is pink/brown 251. I hope that it will one day be my Clapotis.

I also ordered some Noro Kureyon for the Booga J Bag and some Nature Cotton in lavendar for a tank that I saw in the Spring/Summer issue of Knit Simple but that was all on backorder. It's not really like it matters all that much since I have so much Christmas knitting to do. I really don't need to be knitting myself anything at the moment!

I am well on my way to completing two Christmas presents. I thought that Twitterpated would be cute for my two 17 year old cousins.

I still have a little work to do on them and once I get my courage up I will "sew" up the lining and add that along with the handles. The green one is made out of almost 2 skeins of Knitpicks Shine in Green Apple, and the lilac one is made of 1 skein of Cotton Classic. The lilac one is much smaller than intended since I ran out of yarn making it. I had to sew it up using some Lion Brand cotton in a similar color, but that is too dark to use to add the handles. I don't know yet what I am going to do about that!

I found some really cute fabric over the weekend so I got enough to line the purses and anything else for Christmas that might need lining. (I don't want to give too much away. :-) )

I don't really know how to sew so this should be an experience. I found something called "stitch witchery" and I am hoping that I will only have to sew the pocket into the purse instead of having to sew the pocket and sew it into the purse.

I got a camera!

I finally bought a digital camera of my own, so now I don't have to haul all of my things over to Jason's house to photograph them. I think that this will be great for blogging! Of course there were some stray dishtowels laying around that I'd not yet photographed.

The one on the right is the mid-August KAL from the Yahoo Group, Monthly Dishcloths. I liked the color combo so much that I made a ballband dishcloth to match. (I like to make them with the varigated yarn in the background.)

I also made Jason some dishtowels since he doesn't really use dishcloths. I got a new dishcloth pattern book, Kitchen Kolors, and I LOVE IT. The dishtowel on the left is from that book and then the dishcloth on the right is a modification from the ballband dishcloth.

I got the idea from a woman on the Mason Dixon KAL, but I varied this one up a bit. She did 3 bands on each side but I liked the idea of a definite front and back, so I did 5 bands for the front and then 2 for the back. Best of all, they look cute folded up!

New Knitty = Trouble for my list

I am probably the last one to discover this but the new Knitty is up. Hooray! Bad news for me though, as it just causes me to discover more and more things that I want to knit. I think that I need to join a 12 step program for people who plan but never actually get anything accomplished. I like a lot of the patterns from this issue...drumroll please...

1. Viveka
2. Lucie
3. Cactus Flower
4. Ivy
5. Serrano
6. Twiggy Tweed
7. Back to School (My heart did a little backflip when I saw those)
8. Ayla

I like the sock patterns as well, but I am not even considering adding them to my list, b/c I am kidding no one, least of all myself. :-)

I know that some knitting patterns have been circulating around on the web for forever, but I haven't been knitting forever so a lot of them are new to me. Therefore I am geeked up to knit Clapotis and Booga Bag. At first I didn't really love Clapotis, but the more I looked at it and the more I convinced myself that I would be able to drop a YO stitch, I realized that I love it. Coupled with the fact that I work in a basement where it is about 65 degrees year round, I am going to make it. Seriously. I have the yarn picked out. (I hope that this is a suitable substitution...those of you in the know, please let me know!)

Because I was so good on my trip and didn't spend all of my trip money I was able to come back home and order yarn! I purchased all of the remaining yarn that I need in order to make the Christmas gifts for my family and friends. I am excited about this and I am hoping that it will make for some more exciting blogging. I so want to have some FOs to dazzle you with!

Niagara Falls, Part Two

More pictures!

American Falls (photographed from Canada):










American Falls (photographed from America):






















Bottom of the American Falls:











American Falls and Canadian Falls (taken on the bridge between USA and Canada):






















Canadian Falls:












Cave of the Winds (American side):






















Fancy footwear they make you wear at the Cave of the Winds:












Yep, we took a picture of the barrel (not sure if this is the actual barrel that Annie went over in or just a replica):










Jason and me at Journey Behind the Falls:

Niagara Falls, Part One

We got back from our vacation to Niagara Falls on Tuesday. Yesterday I was not up to blogging as I was feeling barely alive, but today I am back and ready! Due to the overwhelming amount of pictures that were taken by my male companion I will be telling you of my trip in installments.

Here is Part One...

My mother (making her blog debut) and me on the Maid of the Mist boat ride, sporting some fancy ponchos:













Jason and me posing for a postcard picture at Souvenir City (Mother took this one and I guess she wasn't feeling comfortable with the zoom capabilities :-) ):











Here I am hanging with some celebrities (Brad Pitt and Prince William, in case you can't tell) that I met along the way :-)




















Jason and me in front of Lake Ontario at Niagara-on-the-Lake:











They illuminate the Falls every night (I am pretty sure that these are the American Falls but I can't tell for sure):











American Falls (left) and Bridal Veil Falls (right):











Canadian Horseshoe Falls:











More pictures tomorrow!