I am a Dead Beat Blogger...........

I will admit it. You know how it is, you don't post for a week and then the week turns into several and before you know it you are a DEAD BEAT BLOGGER, and as time passes, the will to come back to your blog lessens, and the excuses for not posting mount and mount.

You actually even go to your blog site, open up the post window......and well the phone rings, you would rather clip your toe nails, pick your nose, pull weeds, clean your toilet, pay bills,etc. You have Dead Beat Blogger syndrome, until the shame and guilt drives you to type anything,to make excuses for your tardy post.

So I will leave it to your imagination as to my actual excuses for not posting in over a month, except to say this........ PROCRASTINATION.... OVERWHELMED with my life and responsibilities, and dealing with the stresses of the so-called FINANCIAL TSUNAMI, etc.

I do have several accomplishments to report:

I finished the 'Everyone Knows Jacket'. I liked this project, the instructions were well written and the finished product fits well. I did not do the side dropped stitch pattern as I like a warm sweater in the winter. I did do the drop stitch pattern on the sleeves.

After finishing the sweater, I realized that it was not real smart to use noro kureopatra yarn for a drop sleeve pattern since the fibers tend to pull apart. My hope is after the first washing they will felt a bit, so this does not become a problem. Here are some photos:




















I also finished my KIP 2008 knitting project which, was a checkerboard scarf. I like how it turned out, photos and pattern forthcoming. A great take along knitting project.

After the success of the the 'Everyone Knows Jacket', I decided to to finish up the Hooded Pullover #14 by Deborah Newton in the 2008 Vogue Magazine. I have made major headway,finished the back and the front.

I screwed up the front, I realized as I was just about to take it off the needles. I forgot to bind off for the neck opening. UGGGGGGGGGH! I started to frog.......and re-knit it according to the instructions. As I was frogging, I realized, I should have just steeked the neckline, it would have saved me re-knitting and would have been much faster. Oh well...a good tip for the next time this occurs. I must admit, I have never steeked as the idea of cutting my lovely knit stitches.....sends chills up my spine, but this would have been the most expedient fix for this error.

I have cast on the sleeves, I am doing both at the same time. All that is left after that is the hood. I am so happy with this project so far......the instructions are well written and clear....

This pattern is for an experienced knitter, who has experience with complex cable stitches.I prepared an exel spread sheet to keep all the pattern changes by row, which helps immensely in doing complex aran cable sweaters, where the number of pattern rows for each design varies.

I have this for the body of the sweater and will make one for the sleeves. This is especially helpful if you tend to put your knitting down for a period of time........as it helps you to know where you left off.

On the ulcer front, I am glad to report that the ulcer is cured. It took 3 months, but I am on the road to recovery.........with changed habits........and better emotional borders, as a result. I can not say it strongly enough, stress kills and people and things in your life who constantly produce stress, do have an effect. The time to dispose of the stress is before you get an ultra large bleeding ulcer..........it is just not worth it. Life is difficult enough without things and people who exacerbate negativity.

I am still awaiting biopsy, but the area now looks clean and the doc believes it was just ulceration from the ulcer. I am so happy to be off the medication, which worked but, has side effects that are not pleasant. I was on it for longer than normal due to the extremely large size of my ulcer.

Spring has come on faster than usual this year.......most of my trees have full leaves and have bloomed. I will miss my house, once it sells.......I love my gardens, but, have decided that this is just too much upkeep for one small chick. It has overwhelmed me....and I need smaller digs.

The ebaying is overwhelming me, too........I have so much to get sold before the end of this year. I have been an overconsumer, pack rat extraodinaire. I feel great everytime, I find good homes for my things.

Please take a look at both my shops, will be putting up knitting and craft books and yarns, this week and every week going forward................so check back often. Here are the links to my online shops:

ebay

bonanzle

The bonanzle shop also has lots of hardback books, many that have never been opened so take a look. The prices are cheap, because I do not want to pack them up and move them. My loss is your gain!

Wishing you a great spring weekend,
Smiles to you,
DC

IT'S FINISHED..................

the lace wrap cardigan from HELL! Which I renamed the UNWRAPPED lace cardigan, since I modified it majorly!!!

I was not happy with the fit, as a wrap cardigan...my boobs were too exposed, plus it was too long waisted for me. So it is now a lace up v-neck sweater that has a loose empire waist baby doll look in the front and fitted in the back.

I had it on today and actually DO like it now. I used a crocheted scallop edging on the neck edge and larger treble stitch crocheted scallop edging on the bottom.

I wove the silk binding ribbon through the bottom edging and through the neck edge scallops. I found the ribbon in my stash which, matched perfectly!!!


Other modifications include, only two stitches used on the body, instead of three. I changed pattern E because I did not like the purl background with all the other knit background stitches. I used the pattern stitch for the middle part of the sleeves for a longer row repeat than suggested and reordered the patterns selected for each sleeve.

I am so happy that this turned into a wearable garment, with all the angst I went through knitting it. Someone did finally post a finished garment on ravelry...and it looks great. She knitted a small and did not have all the problems with the pattern that I did. On the other hand it could have been all the errata I worked out with LISA from vogue before hand. Thank you lisa, for your assistance.
I started the #14 Hooded Pullover in Vogue Winter 2008/2007 by deborah newtown, which is turning out great. No problems so far. Thank you DEBORAH NEWTON for writing a great pattern.

I am using this fabulous yarn Silwood Sensations 50% superfine kid, 25% alpaca, 25 % wool from new zealand. I adore this yarn. If you can find it, buy it!!! Knitting with it is like heaven!!!!

I have about 9 inches done on the body now. I made a stitch pattern chart on excel for the body stitch pattern changes.

If you would like a copy, leave me a message in my blog comments with your email and I will be happy to send it to you. It helps tremendously.

I modified the pattern for a smaller size. I cast on only 118 stitches and hoping to get a 39" bust. The small was incredibly large. I am also using # 8 needles throughout the project....which is working well. I can't wait to finish this one up, it is a real pleasure to knit.

I also finally finished the knitting on the lace cable cardigan from 2004...a former UFO, that is actually near completion. Just need to sew it up and knit the button band and it will be officially removed from the UFO heap. I made a chart for the sleeves which, really helps. If interested...leave comment on my blog.

wishing you all a happy week......
Smiles to YOU,
DC