Knitphomaniac Turns Hooker...

Ha, Ha, Ha, like my title?  I better be careful not to turn my blog into an X rated blog....but we all hear about how Crocheters are 'Hookers' because they use a 'needle' with a hook on the end.......well, I have kinda turned into a semi crocheter....at least I have been crocheting a lot this past week and I have really enjoyed it!  It has been super wet and rainy here in SA (some flooding around the city) so it made for lots of staying inside and crocheting/knitting.

First, I finished Antonio's blanket made with Knit Picks Bulky Brava Held Double:

Then, I wanted to make another.....with the Bernat Blanket yarn.  I am about 1/2 way done with the 7th stripe....I made this one wider since it will be for ME!!  However, I think Precious thinks it is all for her....LOL!

I see more of these blankets in my future...they crochet up very quickly and are very soft!

I have a few stash enhancements....DVD yarn....I got 3 skeins (so it looks like I might be doing the sock a month club again next year).  From left to Right....Winnie The Pooh, Spice Market, and Melted....the Melted is a varigated color, but I love it!

Susan at DVD has a contest each month where you give her ideas of whatever she is asking and then she picks some and if she picks you, you win a skein of the colors you recommended....for December it was "Favorite Book".  So I recommended "Friday Night Knitting Club" and I won!!!!  I do not have this yarn yet....but I am hoping to get it early in the new year....Yahoo!!!

I also started my sock for December's sock a month with DVD...this is called Wine Accents....This is a sparkle base...and it is the first time I have ever knit with a sparkle base...at least I think it is..LOL!

Let's see.....what else did I do.....Oh, I did a little more reorganizing in my Yarn Room and it prompted me to pull out Paige's sweater that she washed and said was all wonky now....well, I re-soaked it and re-blocked it, and I think it will be fine....I can feel where it shrunk a little (and you can see by the ruffle in the edges) but the think was so darn huge, that I think this will still be wearable for her.

I also came across some Pearl Yarn from years ago and I am not sure if these two match.  Darlene says one color is a bit darker but I should be fine if I alternate skeins...but I am not even sure if it is the same weight yarn ??  What do you guys think?

Lastly....I worked on Paige's sweater...The first picture is of how deep her pockets will be....the second picture is of all 3 pieces (curling stockinette)....I did break the news to her that I did not think this would be done in time for Christmas....and she was okay with that (but I still want to just get it done!)

Well, I think that is all I did except hang out with Antonio.....we went to a new donut place by my house....he got chocolate with tiny circle sprinkles....I hope you all have a fabulous week....Just 19 days till Christmas.

Happy, Happy, Happy Knitting everyone!

HAPPY 200th! HAPPY President's Day! HAPPY Valentine's Day!

So I have lots happy's today!  Happy 200th Post!!! Happy President's Day!! Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and are now enjoying President's Day today.  Darlene's daughter and grand daughter made the cutest Valentine's....they melted crayons into heart shapes...I can really color with this crayon!  Thank you Shyla and Peyton!

I got beautiful flowers from Jaime and chocolates from Paige and Antonio.  Jaime and I were supposed to go to Fredericksburg, TX for Satruday and Sunday....but Paige called Friday night so we cancelled and I hung out with Antonio most of the weekend....Jaime grilled us some fajitas, chicken wings, and ribs on Sunday evening.  It was a great Valentine's Day!

I am gonna jump right into the knitting....because I have a small tutorial I want to do today at the end of the post.....the tutorial is on blocking!

I have been plugging away at my Citadel Cardigan...one day last week I had just finished a row where I was supposed to decrease for the waist and I realized I forgot to decrease.  So, I was thinking the row and I dropped a stitch in one of the cable patterns.....it took me forever to fix (maybe I should have just frogged and re-knit), but I FIXED IT!  I was so proud of myself!

Here is more of my progress:

I knit a little on my February Socks:

I also finished my Karee Shawl....I am going to use it as an example of how I block my shawls.  I had the sweetest lady named Inca contact me via email and told me she loved my blog and wondered if I had any blocking tutorials......I did not, so I told her I would try to make one.  Now, this is not the only way to block items....this is just how I do it.  I have not taken and special classes or read any books....I just kind of self taught myself by figuring out how I could best shape out my shawls.  In a previous post, I have already shared my blocking board that a friend made me.

Once my item is finished, I usually weave in all the ends (except the last one from the bind off).  Then I fill my sink with warm water and add some sort of soak to it.  Lately I have been using a soak called wrapture that I posted about here (I LOVE THIS SCENT)!

After approx 15-20 min I pull out my hand knit item and squeeze out as much water as I can.  I do not soak for too long because the item will bleed it's colors and sometimes if you have more than one color, the lighter colors can start to dye from the darker colors.

Once I squeeze out as much water as I can, I place the item on a towel.

Then I roll up the towel like a tootsie roll.

Once I have it as a tootsie roll in a towel, I stand and walk on the towel to get the towel to soak up more water in the shawl.

Now, I have a set of blocking wires I got from knit picks...these wires are old and some are even bent (Antonio loves to play with them).  You can get any 15 gauge wire (or somewhere around that size) and I am sure it will work.  I take this wire and I weave it in and out of the longest straight edge of my shawl.  There is no set scientific way I weave this wire in and out....I just weave it in and out of holes I see or holes that seem to be easy to make.....

Once I have the wires all across the straight part, I lay it out on my blocking mat and I start pining the wires down with T Pins....I stretch my hand knit item across this wire to stretch as much as I can.  Once I have all the wires (this shawl took 4 wires) blocked across the top, I pull down on the bottom of the shawl at the middle section and stretch as much as I can (sometimes the sides will pull in and I just adjust previously placed T Pins)...and shape the shawl the way it was meant to be shaped...I do all of this with my blocking board flat on the ground (as I crawl all over my blocking board)....once all pinned out, I stand up the blocking board so the item can dry (and my dogs do not walk all over the board).

The gingham checkers on my board are not perfect inches...but I do use the lines of the checkers to try to keep the edges straight.

That is it.....once dry, I un-pin it, and lay out the item to take a picture or put it on my wire body form to take a picture.

So, I know this is not the greatest tutorial...I tried to video some of it, but videoing on my own without a stand or anything (and not having more than two hands) was very difficult.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.

Inca, I do hope this helped you a little bit.

I leave you with a couple of pics of Antonio (since we hung out all weekend).

Here he is with his car track he made all by himself!

And here he is hanging out with Uncle Jacob (Jaime's oldest son)....they had a great time.

That is all I have....have a great week....and thank you for a great 200 posts.....I hope to have 200 more!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting