Hot, Hot, Hot!

Hi everyone....I hope you have been staying nice and cool!  Here in South TX, we are HOT and for the next 5 days....we will hit 101 degrees with an even higher heat index!

Well, I am going to just jump into stash enhancements.....I am not sure if I showed you all my new Zing Needles....I got some 2.5 mm 32" circulars a while back (I used them for my rainbow socks) and I really like them, so I got some dpns in 2.5mm and some 2.75 mm in circular and dpn.

I also got some super cute, knitting themed leggings....

Darlene gave me the cutest needle sizer (there are sizes on the other side)...I love it!  Thank you Darlene!

Oh, and remember I said I was going to be casting on a Poncho soon?  Well, I had two skeins of  Wollmeise DK in the Feldmäuschen color at home and I thought I would get a 3rd skein of it from Rohrspatz & Wollmeise just hoping it would match.

Well, it did match!  Perfectly!

The Feldmäuschen is like a brown/purple/grey tone....and Darlene just LOVED the color.  I kind of talked her into getting some grey......so I swapped with her....Here are my three skeins (in the 12 mg colorway) and she took the above skeins.

So, I originally cast on with the Feldmäuschen and the cast on looked super loose....I messaged the designer and she said it did look pretty loose....

First Attempt:

I watched some You Tube videos....but to be honest....even their cast on's looked loose....look at this one from one video:

I wanted it to look nice, so I tried again with the new 12mg color and it looked MUCH better, but I wanted to try one more time....the third time was the charm.

I get gauge for the poncho with size US 8, so I used a size US 8 on my left needle (making the i-cord for the cast on) and a size US 6 on my right needle (holding the stitches that got loose)...it worked out much better....this cast on took me about 4+ hours each time I did it...but designer says that the cast on really makes the poncho and I love the way it looks so far so I am glad I did it (3 times so far).  Now I just have to do it for Darlene and then I will say bye-bye to a 275+ stitch i-cord cast on for a while....LOL!

Second Attempt:

Third Attempt:

 Second and Third Attempt Compared (third attempt on bottom):

 (third attempt on right):

Whew....it kind of seems that all I did was cast on all week...but I did do a few other things.....I frogged that Hitofude I said I would:

I also started my July Socks....the colorway is London in a Bag!  I am doing the Whiz Bang pattern and the toes have different slanting sides...this should be interesting!

This yarn really, really, really turned my fingers and nails a blue color......I sent an email to Susan at DVD and tell her she may want to rinse her blue a little more or use some citric acid....I was not trying to complain because I really, really, really love her yarn...but then I got to thinking...and if nobody tells her that her dye is bleeding off, she will not know!

I worked a touch on the black sweater for Darlene's DIL.....but not enough to shoot another picture.

I worked a little on Rennandi...even worked on it at Hot Rod Night this past Saturday with Jaime!

Then it was time to work on Spire....I had been putting it off all week (remember, I do not love working on lace...so this just kept getting ignored) and I was getting behind on my own calendar to do 812 stitches a day....well, I needed to do 7,504 stitches to catch up...and I knitted my little fingers away...but only got 6,384 stitches done...I was just one day behind (instead of a week behind).  So, tonight I will need to do 1,688 to catch up...and then try to keep up!

It is coming along and you can start to see a bit of the lace pattern....I really hope I can keep up with this!

Well....I think that is all I have....Oh, Dyakcraft put up some 'seconds' for purchase and Darlene snagged me a set of the plum.....we should have them this week!  I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Happy Happy Knitting everyone!

BIG 4 Retreat Failure?

I think I might just be a failure at my own Retreat.....I mean, I do not want to call myself a 'failure', but I think I may be a semi-failure.....Let me explain!

By the end of this post you will see that I have finished 3 of my 4 Big 4 Retreat items....I know that is not failing at all, but here is where the failure comes in....my last item is Spire and I am 38.28% done with it.  However, the last 61.72% is all lace pattern.....and I just cannot work on nothing but lace day in and day out...I need mindless things in my life (apparently, my brain does not like working)!

Now, I have made myself a chart and I only have to do 812 stitches per day to finish my Spire by September 1.....so, I am going to finish everything I wanted to for the Big 4 retreat (at least I think I will)...but my semi failure is that I apparently cannot do it without casting on something else for my non thinking knitting!

So, you all already know that I have cast on my Rennandi, and I have a poncho I want to make that is all stockinette and mindless that I will probably cast on soon....so I am a semi-failure!  Please do not hate me or give me too hard of a time....failure is hard to admit to....LOL!!!!

Now, on to what I have been up to:

Let me start with Stash Enhancements.....now, my first stash enhancement has a kinda medium to long story....

About a year and a half ago....I made Paige one of the greatest cardigans I think I have ever made and it is called Breezy Cardigan (blogged here):

Then, a little over a year ago she wanted me to knit her a cardigan called Reine.  She picked some beautiful Madeline Tosh Sock yarn for this project and I bought 4 skeins (the 7th picture in this post).

Here I am a year later and I have not made the Reine cardigan....but Paige informs me that she thinks she ruined the Breezy Cardigan.....she had washed it before and it was always fine, but this time it seemed worse...Here it is on Antonio:

Now, I think I may be able to re-block the sweater and it will be okay, but I am not 100% sure yet because Paige has not brought it to me....well, she wants another Breezy Cardigan.  So, I thought maybe I could make it with the Madeline Tosh she had picked for the Reine Cardigan.

Turns out that 4 skeins is not enough yardage, so I ordered another skein (which is my stash enhancement)....

Well, guess what?  Yup, you guessed it, Madeline Tosh does not have dye lots and I am buying the yarn a whole year later....so the new one does not exactly match and I am not sure if it will work with alternating skeins......

I showed it to Paige and she said she would really like a Breezy Cardigan in Black....UGGGG!  So, I think I will use my black yarn I was planning for my Hitofude to make her a Breezy Cardigan (I think I may have to order a couple more skeins) and then I may use this Madeline Tosh in the Antique Lace colorway for my Hitofude and alternate skeins and I should be fine!  So this is probably going to go to the frog pond:

I also bought some more Signature Straight Needles for my Memories Blanket....both Darlene and I purchased size 4 (3.5 mm) to make our blankets...well, Darlene liked her blanket better on size 2.5 (3.0 mm) so I got some too to restart my blanket and see which one I like best!

Then, I got my Loopy Academy Swag!  I am so glad that I crammed to finish everything because I love this cute little bags and notions!

I also got some yarn from Darlene!  She is so awesome to me.....she watches the Knit Girllls Podcast and saw Leslie's finished Inara....so even before we went to the lake house, she was scheming and she bought me the Cherries and Chocolates Gradient set so we can make the shawl.

I love this Gradient Set....Thank you Darlene!  I will probably start this wrap with my new Dyakcraft needles...I know I showed them to you last week...but I just love them in my Graces Case and have to show them to you again!

That is it for my knitting stash enhacements...I did buy some leggings recently...one pair is just circles, but it reminds me of yarn balls....I planned to wear these this past weekend to Hot Rod Night, but it was postponed to this coming weekend because of the rain.  I still wore them and they are soooo soft!  I just love them!

Now, I have an FO.....I finished my 3rd Big 4 Retreat item....Smooth Move!  I love it!  I have not blocked it yet, but it is still cuddly and large even without blocking!

Then what else did I work on.....well, here is my Spire to show you how far I am (I really have made progress):

I told you (and I think may have shown you before) that I started my Rennandi for the Miss Babs tour....well, I was just dying to get to the green/chartreuse color.....and I needed that 'mindless' knitting....so I here is my progress on that.

Lastly was the sweater for Darlene's DIL....it is semi mindless knitting, but not always...and it is hard to tink, so I try to knit on this only when my mind is semi fresh (not tired)....LOL!  I am back to where I was before I frogged it.

One small thing I wanted to mention....I have a knnitting friend that has had a bit of a rough patch lately...her hubby passed last year, her car broke down several times, she hit her head on the clothes line and had to go to ER.....just one thing after antoher...well, Saturday night/early morning her house caught on fire.  She has 2 dogs and Red Cross said they could not really accomodate her with the dogs....so she and her dogs are stayign with me (I have no clue how long).....please keep her in your 'good thoughts' column or if you are religious then a prayer or two is welcomed!

Well, that is all I have!  I hope everyone has a fabulous week.....We have the 4th of July weekend coming up....so enjoy that!  I know I will enjoy my 3 day weekend!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Father's Day, whether you are a Father, play the role of a Father, or spent it with your Father, I hope it was fabulous!

Here is my Dad and my Grandfather (his dad).  I never knew my grandfather because he died before I was born, but I still love him for giving me my daddy!!!!

My dad:

My grandfather:

Okay, on to the knitting!

I finished my Monthly DVD socks....the rainbow ones:

Now, these socks turned my fingers blue/purple while knitting them.....so, I wanted to soak these socks in water with citric acit in the water to see how well the citric acid worked....it worked like a charm....the socks did not bleed at all, and this is HOT water!

I forgot to mention that I knit these socks with some new sock needles...they are called Zings and they are by Knit Pro.  I really enjoyed these needles and they are very affordable.....so I am going to switch gears to some Stash enhancements:

I also got some new Dyakcraft needles...the Robins Egg Blue ones....these are sooooo pretty!  I LOVE THEM!

A friend of mine that came to SNB at my house got me the cutest serving tray...I just love it!

My last stash enhancement is not really knitting related (I guess neither was the serving tray), but relaxing related...Bath & Body works had a big sale and brought back some old scents....my favorite scent is Cucumber Melon and my daughters favorite is Sweat Pea....so I got some shower gel and lotions and fragrance sprays :)

Okay......sorry I got sidetracked....now back to the knitting.

I started some new socks for a Biscotte & Cie KAL here.  These socks have a provisional cast on and then you knit for a bit and join....it was quite challenging for me...but I got them both done.

Then I worked a little on Paige's gigantor blanket...I should have been done with this by now if  I had done my 2 rows a day...but I didn't so I am only like 1/2 way done :(

I have been working away at my smooth move (for my BIG 4 Retreat)...and I am about 84% done.....maybe, just maybe I can finish it this week:

Then, I was cruzin' along on the sweater for Darlene's DIL...but Darlene did not like the look of it....so I ripped back to the end of the ribbing and started over with the real pattern....it is hard to phototgraph it in black.

That is really all I have this week.  I had Antonio this past weekend for a little bit and I also got to see Celeste and Cataleya!  I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!