My friend Vivian dyes some beautiful yarns over at Hillviews Yarn, I didn’t take a picture of the skien, but I sure had fun knitting the socks.
We are having real winter here in So Cal, I am wearing wool socks every day. My kids are dropping hints that one pair of hand knit socks just isn’t enough… As you can see here from the picture, one never knows how the yarn will knit up. In one sock we have stripes and pooling, in the other, mostly pooling.
Foolish me, I should have just knit a plain stockinette sock, but after the heel turn I decided to knit the leg in a rib stitch. Ribbing takes too much time! To frog back to the heel would be too difficult, so I didn’t. No one is going to get close enough to my foot to see that one sock has a little bit of ribbing….
… and the other doesn’t. They both fit well and are cozy warm. They are also both beautiful, there is a time and place for perfection in knitting, socks are not that time or place.
Here we have a closer look at stripes vs. pooling. Who knows why that happens? I saw a chart somewhere, an engineer figured out how many stitches would create each affect. It was a fun thing to read, but both these socks have 60 stitches and the yarn behaved differently. This is the beauty of hand knit socks – as well as how warm and cozy they are.
I mentioned another sweater, this yarn is Malabrigo. for some reason I don’t have a green sweater, well shortly I will. Also, look how bright green the grass is, what with all that winter rain we are getting.
Months ago I knit this, I hated it, rather then try and make it work I frogged it. For non-knitters, the term frogging comes from the action of ripping out a large swath of knitted fabric – rip it! rip it! Or should I say ribbit ribbit? Hense frogging.
This is the sweater I wanted! Sure I would have been ok with more cables. Then again, this knit up much quicker without cables through out.
I decided to make the backdrop more interesting as well.
Gaping can be an issue with a cardigan, so it was time to go the extra mile and sew in a band of grosgrain ribbon. Well, it’s probably fake grosgrain, but it is readily available at JoAnn’s.
Interesting cables at the neckline, a touch of interest at the cuff. A wonderful kettle dyed yarn with subtle color changes. Although the yarn is wool, it is thin, so if we ever get back our ‘normal’ winter, I will get a lot of wear out of this. Otherwise, I am enjoying big thick sweaters I haven’t worn in years.
I found the buttons at JoAnn’s as well, cute roses. I used my sewing machine to make button holes on the ribbon, so both bands are stabilized. I should really do this from now on when I knit cardigans.
This shot is more about the background, it’s a little too dark for the sweater details, at least you can see that it fits nicely. Not too tight, not too loose.
Another great project, I have already cast on another sweater -there is a whole story behind the next one as well.
I knit this a few months ago, which is what I need to keep on doing, knitting items that can end up as gifts for the holidays. Can you see the round box?
I can’t stop with one item. So I made this wonderful box, then promptly forgot to take pictures. So glad my friend took some pictures once it arrived. This is part of another great
I had fun with my die cutter and stamps as well. I have avoided getting a Cricut or some other electronic die cutting machine. I really don’t need one. I have the Sizzix and a few dies, which is fine. What I really need to do is get back into some mosaic work this year, not more paper.
When the inside is as nice as the outside, and my label of course. 
In return, I got this beautiful handmade ceramic vase. No, my friend isn’t a ceramicist, but she does work at RISD, Rhode Island School of Design, so she is able to look at what students are making and choose what she wants. 
She chose this because I am always posting the flowers I pick from my garden. So I promptly went out and picked flowers to put in my vase.
Earlier this year RISD had an exhibit of 
It started out ok, I wasn’t thrilled with how the pattern was written, but I worked through it. Off the bat one of my problems was the complexity of the cable. I guess I’m just not into knitting complicated cables where I really have to pay attention to the chart. When the two cables are mirror image it is even harder to try and memorize the cable pattern.
I kept at it, the yarn is Sweet Georgia and it is a delight to knit with.
I finished the body, sure unblocked it doesn’t look very good.
I’ve knit Joel a few hats. Aytan wanted to be like his Saba and wear one of the hats. Knitting a child’s hat out of bulky yarn is easy to do, so overnight, I made a hat.
It is nice warm wool, good for when he goes skiing in December.
I put in my label, which is something of a problem, since he tells me it’s now my hat. Even though it’s too small for me.
One happy Aytan. (and Saba Joel)
Made from some lovely Norwegian wool I bought in Victoria BC. It’s fun when my souvenir yarn gets used quickly.
This is a shawl that makes a very interesting use of short rows and a lace pattern within a basic garter stitch background.
But it is one where it’s hard to see the whole pattern because when I wear it, it is scrunched up on the body.
Which creates whole new designs and interest. Best thing, it keeps my neck and shoulders warm while looking fabulous.
Some detail shots so you can see the ingeniousness of the design. Some people have been working two tones in the background, or knitting the background solid and the lace insets with a variegated yarn.
I like having only one knitting project at a time. So as soon as the shawl was done I immediately cast on socks with yarn from my friend Vivian. 
First sock done, using my fall pumpkins as a nice backdrop.
Both socks done! The weather just got cool, so I will be wearing these right away.
It is wonderful to have so many creative knitters how there who actually come up with a new way of knitting a shawl. This is a crescent shaped shawl, knit mostly with garter stitch and some lace inserts.
The Norwegian super wash yarn is just yummy to knit with. Smooth, soft, yet shows great stitch definition.
Here is the newest batch. Yay for Michaels! They are constantly updating their supplies. So the cute beads with jump-ring attached are the perfect decoration. Just open the jump-ring, put on earring and voila! Double purpose, stitch markers and in case of emergency – earrings.
The beaded marker is one that I made two years ago. Same earring hardware, but I wire wrapped the bead myself. It’s fun to change out the decoration. The nice thing about these wires is that they open and close, so I can move the marker around whenever I need. They also slip along easily on the needle. The decoration isn’t just for looks, the bead makes the marker more visible and easy to find.
Just a look at a pile of markers. There are the standard Clover ‘diaper pins’, a few store bought makers that are similar but in metal. My earrings, as well as some closed markers that are simply wire-wrapped beads with a large loop. These are very good for a continuous lace pattern where there never is any change in the number of stitches in a repeat. I’ve lost a lot of those, really don’t know how and don’t know where.
Culling the herd. These markers are being banished to a drawer. I won’t throw them away in case I need them in an emergency. The way I lose markers, that is bound to happen soon.
Starting the next lace section, separating out the repeats. It’s fun with these little jewels, may need to make another batch.
I finished the linen sweater. Here it is, a little shapeless, a little crunchy with all kinds of wonky stitches.
A lot of unevenness going on. Some people don’t like to knit with unwashed linen, they say it hurts their hands. Some cotton can do that to me, linen – never, even if it stays stiff as I knit, it warms up in my hands.
After the washer,dryer and steam blocking, look how even the stitches are. They have bloomed a little and have relaxed into place, no more jagged look, as if I had knit with twine.
The ends have softened considerably. You can see how the ends are soft and crinkled, I find it easier to weave in the ends after the wash. I had tied a knot when I added the new color, so I wasn’t worried about any unraveling.
This artistic image is the dryer lint – that is a lot of lint from one sweater. I will wash it again soon, to soften it further, I doubt I’ll get this much fuzz.
The color blocking worked beautifully.
Yes, the bottom edge is jagged, I cast off very loosely. Seeing these pictures made me realize how unprofessional it looks. Although I didn’t take another picture, I did remove and re-cast off. Much nicer now.
I LOVE linen. Much more than cotton. Sure cotton breathes and is a good warm weather fiber, but it is heavy – especially when spun into yarn and knit into a sweater. Linen is also plant based, it is made from cellulose – but for some reason, it doesn’t have the weight of cotton. 
These days I can hardly wear synthetics, I’m not allergic in that I don’t get a rash. But synthetics rob me of my body heat. A linen sweater like this will retain my body heat and keep me warm. Not like wool of course, but for those times when I’m a little chilly, like summer nights – linen will keep me warm. If I wear something like this on a hot day, it will breathe and not suffocate me like synthetics do.
I knew when I started knitting this that I’d probably need a camisole, I was right. The elongated stitches are very transparent, but to be honest, the whole sweater is. I tend to run cold these days, even in summer, so I don’t mind a camisole, and once it gets chillier, even a long sleeve t-shirt will be nice.
The only yarn that has any real yardage left is pink. I am so happy that I finally put this linen to good use! I find that as I get older I want my garments to be simpler. Gone are the days of everything but the kitchen sink.
Like this linen sweater I made 8 years ago. The cables, the peplum, the bell sleeves. I love the color, I love the feel of the fabric, but it’s just too much. I guess that is a product of getting older. Works for me, I’m enjoying the journey.
Using linen yarn I’ve had forever and a pattern I just bought on my trip to DC.
I’ve been wanting to use this yarn forever, but just haven’t found the right project. Although the store sample was made of cotton, the pattern is written for linen, so why not! I have to knit this sweater in stripes because I have all these colors. This is a top-down raglan sweater, so when I knit the stripe on the body, I want the sleeves to correspond with a similar stripe. It’s a guessing game, as well a playing yarn chicken.
So far I have won! I finished the sleeve stripes without running out of yarn! although as you can see, I got pretty close to losing. You will have to wait until I’m done to see how this all works out. But now, back to quilting.
I rarely buy charm packs, those 5″ squares all cut from one line of fabric. LAMQG was having a fundraiser, people brought all kinds of fabric they no longer wanted and things were sold for just a few dollars a piece. So I bought this charm pack and got to work.
Once a quilt is finished, I’m not sure it matters which direction the seams are ironed. It was easier to simply iron the center patch out, but, by ironing the seams in, the patch stands out a little from the background. So that is how I ironed them.
Boy am I having fun with my new design wall, it does make a difference while making quilts. Looking at something on a wall in front of me is very different than looking down at the floor. This pattern 
I’m not switching over to precuts any time soon. It certainly is fun to follow these tutorials from time to time. At first, I thought this would become a charity quilt.
I’m selfish, I like this too much, this will have to be a gift for someone I know and care about.
I kept changing and rearranging my blocks. Scrappy only goes so far with me, I need a certain order.
All four blocks are done.
Quilt top finished! So now this is waiting to be quilted, while I still work on my Splendid Sampler. Since that is a year long project it is fine to make other quilts, the problem is I now have two other quilt projects going as well.monogamousllen off the monagamous wagon! More on those quilts soon.
As soon as I knew the birthday (same as Aytan! Yay) and Sea Monkey’s real name I got to work embroidering the label.
I thought I was done, only to discover he does have a middle name.
So I squeezed the Ezra in and sewed the label on the back of the quilt.
Interesting construction, you knit eight legs, attach and knit up the body.
Love the bottom! I just realised I didn’t put a label on him, oh well the Other Leah will know that it was made by the Leah.
Since he is so much larger than the image on the pattern I needed to get creative with the eyes and the moustache. The eyes were easy, I simply covered a self-cover button with black fabric.
The moustache was a little harder to find. Thank God for Etsy, I think I found the perfect one. 
Great little top hat.
All this hardware means this Dandy isn’t baby safe. That is ok, he isn’t meant for Asher, he is meant for mom. A few weeks ago there was a video going around with a bright pink cephalopod, the Other Leah mentioned that she wants one. I couldn’t tell her that one was one the way. She is thrilled with how big he is, it’s part of his appeal.
Dad can claim him as well, he won’t be chewing off eyes or moustaches.
Here they are, the two cephalopods before they went to live in their forever home.
I probably could have knit a pair with one ball of yarn, but I didn’t want to risk it, so the toe, heel and ribbing are in a solid.
Like socks
Although these fit me very well they are going to be gifted.
Yes, there are people in my life who are knit-worthy.
Everyone brought leftover sock yarn, we swapped, we shared, we made piles of yarn.
My pile is on the bottom right, I even started knitting at the meeting.
What are we making? Wonderful colorful fingerless mitts, using the pattern 
My trip to DC means two long stretches of 5 hours where all I have to do is listen to an audible book and knit.
Finished and blocked.
There is no right hand or left hand, they can be worn on either hand. I love them, problem is, I had a specific friend in mind for these and she doesn’t go for bright psychedelic colors.
I should break out of my routine and do what Maria did, make them in shades of black, grey and white.