December dizzies

Thanksgiving was quiet for us. We went to The Old Warsaw for a nice dinner. While the food was excellent, we were disappointed in the service. When we had to request bread (all the other tables had it) and ask for water refills, they lost me. I really think our waiter wrote us off because we didn't order drinks.

The next three days were tied up with Nutcrackers. We have played all 20 productions with this company - they keep getting better and better. What an honor and thrill to be associated with them :-)

This was a positive note in a fall filled with disappointing orchestra news.

The Richardson Symphony, a group with whom I have played for 20 years decided to no longer bargain with the local chapter of the AF of M. It is an unfortunate turn of a professional orchestra into one made up of amateurs who call themselves professional but do not sound so. A colleague attended the first concert and said how tedious it was - while the strings played pretty well, the winds and brass played with no conviction and had intonation problems. I have mixed feelings - on one hand, I want to the orchestra to continue since it has been in existence for 49 years and is in my home town. On the other hand, we professionals were treated poorly and thrown away with no consideration for our loyalty and abilities. So I hope they sound horrible and fold. Unfortunately, the untrained listener can hardly tell the difference.

It is situations such as this that make me feel like when I stop playing professionally it will be a relief. I am usually a positive person, but this situation has really been eating me up.

On to knitting news---- I have finished two pair of Fiber Trend Felted Clogs for Christmas gifts for my cousin and his partner. And one pair for me too :-)

FO: Tea Leaves

I finished Tea Leaves last week and have worn it a few times already. This was a wonderfully well-written pattern and quite easy to knit.

The yarn is City Tweed DK from KnitPicks. Beautiful to knit with, blocked beautifully as well....

Next week is our annual Nutcracker weekend. The production is quite lovely - beautiful choreography, gorgeous costumes and sets and a full orchestra providing the music for the dancers. Come one, come all! You will enjoy it, I promise :-)

Frog Pond!

So I knit this nice little cardi in this lovely yarn last year for Rhinebeck. And I wore it - however, it was not a successful project. So I saw this and knew the lovely yarn would be perfect. So I deconstructed the nice little cardi

Frogged it, skeined it

Soaked it and now it is drying

We'll see how it relaxes and find out it it wants to turn into the circle cardigan ....

Stay tuned

FO: more baby sweaters

I love knitting baby sweaters, but have had about enough for now. I think these make nos. 5 and 6. This pattern is Lacey Baby Girl Sweater knit in Baby Bee Hushaby Solid.

The pattern is well written though the sleeves are knit before finishing the body. I knit the body first, then picked up the stitches on DPNs for the sleeves.



The yarn is from Hobby Lobby - very much like Lion Brand Cotton Ease. It is a little splitty, but generally nice to work with. And it washed very well. Overall these were nice to knit.

FO: Baby Edwin's Sweater

Edwin's sweater knit in the old Cotton Ease for my friend's newborn. It is actually larger than newborn due to the worsted weight, but since they live in Indiana, I figured this is something he will wear all winter.


I am also working on (2) Lacey Girl sweaters for my friend who has twin granddaughters. Pics soon...

As soon as all this baby knitting is done, it is on to Tea Leaves for me, knit in City Tweed DK.

Have a fabulous fall week-

FO: Tiny Tea Leaves

Tiny Tea Leaves by Madelinetosh

Knit with the (nice) discontinued Sirdar Breeze. My former student's daughter is 3 yrs old and is about to have a brand new baby brother. I thought she might like something special for herself.

Love the ruching!!

Love it so much, I bought the adult version to knit one for me!

I think I'll knit Baby Sophisticate for the new baby boy. I have a little of the old Cotton Ease in a medium blue wanting to be knit into this.

I'll post as soon as it is finished. It might take a while as school is in session and the University starts tomorrow. My schedule is too full right now... we'll see how I manage.

Til next time .... happy knitting :-)

FO: Pretty Baby Sweaters

My friend's daughter had twin girls so I knitted these for them. But they have grown quite a bit and these will be too small. So I'll wait until the right person comes along and will gift them.

The pattern is the Pretty Baby Sweater which is almost the same as the 5-hour Sweater. The only difference I could discern is that there are buttonholes in this one and i-cord tires on the other.

The yarn is Caron Simply Soft in orchid and light green. This yarn is pretty good for acrylic but not my favorite to knit with. I really prefer some cotton or wool blend in to give a more organic feel. It slid pretty well on my #7 Options.

I don't know if you can see the buttons, but on the orchid sweater they are butterflies and on the pale green, bears :-)

Now I am looking for a 9 month pattern for girly sweaters for the girls. Any ideas?

Happy knitting ~

Rapid River Socks

I loved knitting the Sockbug's River Rapid Socks. The mock cable is easy to memorize and gives a nice organic look. I used KnitPicks Stroll in a purple tweed and #1 dpns.

On the model..

On the feet....

Here is a close-up of the pattern. It is a nice mock cable...

What are you knitting this summer? I would love to hear.

On to the next project ...... no, I don't quite know what it will be :-)

FO: Haruni

Haruni by Emily Ross

The yarn was somewhat of a mystery - a dear friend gave it to me and thought is was silk/tencel blend. It was lovely to knit with and blocked out beautifully. The color is actually more lavender/blue than the blue you see.

The total weight is 118 grams, the yarn was a 3 ply, 20 WPI. And I used #4 Bryspun circs.

Happy knitting to you all -

FO: Monkey See Monkey Do!!

I saw the monkey and knew what I had to do!!

One of my former students just had her first baby and now will have her first sock monkey. The pattern is HERE. I used Sirdar Snuggly DK and #1 needles. The directions are to knit flat and seam all the pieces (NOT!!) or knit tubes (YES!!). I took some black yarn and sewed on eyes instead of using buttons since it is for a newborn.

On to the next project ... I think it will be Haruni. I was given some beee-you-tee-ful periwinkle lace weight (we think) tencel silk blend by a dear friend.

Casting on tonight -

Swallowtail - FO

This was a *very* nice pattern to knit. It took concentration, lifelines, tinking and some cussing. I also had to figure out really how loose to knit the nupps - but I loved knitting it and how it turned out.


The yarn is Classic Elite - Silky Alpaca Lace. The needles I used were Bryspun circs #4 and cast of with #6. Since the needles are white (well, sort of creamy color) it was easy enough to see the yarn. I must confess that I do have a great Verilux lamp that I sit under. Otherwise it might, no, it would be much more difficult to see.

Mods - I knit 19 repeats of the budding lace using LittleBerryKnits numbers and method. It was so easy with her great directions.

A little closer view

Nupps!

Now the conundrum is what to knit next?!

Yarn Bowl!!

My friend Terry made this exquisite yarn bowl just for me!!

And here it is in use :-)

You can see a bit of Swallowtail..... I am on the last lace rows and will post photos and details when it is done.

My schedule for the next 9 days is pretty nuts - it starts with Richardson Symphony this weekend. And since Kelli is off playing elsewhere, I will be principal. :-)

Then Monday and Tuesday is Lord Nelson Mass with the Ft. Worth Baroque Society. Also Tuesday I have to drive out to TAMU-C and listen to my students play their juries.

Wednesday is Sing For The Cure. I played the premier in Dallas 10 years ago, so this is a special occasion. Also, with so many friends who have or have had breast cancer, it has more meaning than ever.

The rest of the week is rehearsal for the Sunday performance of the B Minor Mass by Bach. I am thrilled to be working so much but wish it wasn't all jammed up together.

I will see you when I come up for air.... til then, happy knitting.

Nupp time!

Swallowtail is coming along nicely. So nicely that it is time for the nupps!

After reading the many posts on how small this sweet shawl is, I decided to increase the number of repeats of Budding Lace to 19. That seemed to be the magic number for keeping the next charts on track.

I am knitting this in Silky Alpaca Lace on Bryspun #4 circs. Since the yarn is black (yes, I know - I am crazy to do this in black) the white needles make it much easier to see what I am doing. And I do like the points. So far. We'll see when I have to purl 5 together.....

Here it is so far - looking like a yarn blob. And it is black, though the photo doesn't capture that.

FO: Chapeau Marnier

Another cloche - I love this little pattern! It only takes a few hours to knit and is adorably retro. Chapeau Marnier knit in Luster Sheen

More Caps

This one is the Swirl Hat. I knit it in Serenity Garden Yarn since it is a chemo cap and needs to be very soft.

I really like how the pattern decreases turned out.

Then there is the Rolled Brim Eyelet Cap knit from Baby Bee cotton/acrylic blend.

But my favorite is the Chapeau Marnier knit with Micro Spun. I will knit this again!

Chemo Cap

My friend was just diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer and will undergo aggressive treatment to combat this horrible disease. Please go to the link and read or research this yourselves. It is not the normal type found with a lump and it is very aggressive.

Here is the first of many chemo caps for her.






The pattern is from Head Huggers and is #18 - Lace Edged Womens Hat. I used some cotton blend that was in my stash.

If you are of the mind to, please include her in your prayers.

On a more uplifting note, I am headed to NY to spend some time with Mom. She is doing remarkably well (for being 89) and I look forward to our time together.

I hope you have a wonderful week ~

Dallas Blizzard

It doesn't snow here. At least not like this!



We had record-breaking amounts of the white stuff - 24 hours of snowfall yielding 9" or so.

Here is a little video of our house and street this morning.

I know all of you in snow country are laughing at us here in Texas - but peeps - we don't get stuff like this!!

Two More Pair French Press Slippers

Two more pair of Melynda Bernardi's French Press Slippers knitted, felted and worn. My friend saw the red ones I first knit and wanted a pair so badly, I obliged her.

I loved the first pair I kept for my self and decided I needed a some in purple :-)

I used the Wonder Washer for the felting - it seemed to take quite a long time but really worked just fine. And no lint in my washer drain!

I think it is a keeper.

Wonder Felter

Here is a little video of the Wonder Washer felting 2 pair of French Press Slippers. I'll add photos of the slippers when they are complete :-)

Almost FOs

Ready to felt


And these too

So to save my washing machine, I just bought this on EBay. Some of the other felters say it works wonderfully :-) I love felted slippers and plan to knit many more. I really don't want to destroy my washer with all the lint that accumulates even with the zippered pillowcases.

I'll let you know how it works.

FO: Bitterroot

I have never knited or worn shawls. Until now -




Bitteroot by Rosemary Hill is a beautiful and intuitive knit. I used KnitPicks Gloss sock yarn and #6 Harmony needles.

I have been eyeballing Swallowtail - but will need to learn nupps. Apparently this is a stitch that has many knitters cussing! I searched and found a video on Knitting Daily with Nancy Bush showing how to do this. Did you know the "nupps" rhymes with soups?? (I was rhyming it with cups.)

I think I am hooked on lace shawls.....