One down, four* to go

I finished up Oldest Daughter's Drapey Tam (really called the Simon Tam) - the Berroco Ultra Alpaca and the Rowan Kidsilk Haze made for a wonderfully soft hat.

The ribbing is pretty but - a little odd. You build in new ribs as you increase the stitches (to make the tam shape) but then you quickly begin removing those stitches as you decrease. So there are some wedge shaped sections that I didn't expect.

Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to try on the hat for me - Youngest Daughter being off at college and all.

So I got Youngest Child out of bed (he wasn't sleeping - just reading!) and bribed him with a glass of water to model for me.

It still didn't work for me. So, back to the drawing board.

My version of Jack McBrayer wearing a tam.

See the amazing resemblance?

Photo http://www.buddytv.com

And finally, making its first appearance since 2010, I actually cut off the extra weft from my Cotton Dish Towel and sewed up the edges to make it actually usable. This has been hanging around my sewing room for ages.

I do not like weaving with cotton - it sucked the moisture out of my hands, even just handling the woven material. Good for a towel, I suppose.

I had a hard time getting the cut yarn tails to stay woven in, though. My favorite part? The reversible pattern.

AND never one to forget the Saturday Seven -

Four sweaters, a wool skirt, a terrible throw pillow and a brain quest set. I really, really tried to find a use for these but nothing worked out. The pillow was no good for sleeping with, the skirt was un-alterable, the sweaters either didn't fit or were quite old and Youngest Child - no longer in second grade. Off it all goes to SJTE's Huge Sale.

* The other four? This is the year of finishing up my darn UFOs - the Turn of the Glass cardigan, the Lopi Challenge Sweater, the Sailor's Delight Socks and the must-finish-before-I-die River Grass Gansey.

Round the bend

Very little knitting has been going on this week and what there was, was pretty boring. Round and round - knit row, purl row. But I'm on the sleeves now and, miracle of miracle, this seems to fit! 

I love the cross over front - I was a little worried about picking up so many stitches in such a visible spot.  There are a few iffy parts but, luckily, they are on the underside flap. I'd like to have a more definitive guide to how to pick up stitches, though.

The left side is good - the right side, a bit wonky. Maybe when I block it with steam?

On the weaving front, I've been working on a new pattern. It's not very fancy - a 3/1 window pane pattern - but I like the change from plain weave.

More on this when it's actually a complete towel.

This week's Saturday Seven was a mixed "bag." Hmm, puns. Anyway, a bag, two books, two pairs of winter gloves, a hat and a sweater. Must be spring cleaning . . .

Now it's time to get my bike out and play!

Have I got a deal for you!

Okay, some time last night, my email account went for a stroll without me. If you got something from me about a good deal on electronics but including a large number of misspellings, I apologize on behalf of my email account's good name.

The rest of my week was fairly quiet. I've been working on and off on the Neck Down Wrap Cardigan. Unfortunately, twice I've gotten off track and had to rip back.

I do like a nice increase row!

I spent a week one day working on a direct warp for a pair of dish towels.

In theory, this is supposed to be a quicker, easier way to warp your loom but they lied! The first few rows are spacer rows to get ready for the real weft. In this case, I'll be using alternating blue and yellow Dale of Norway Stork cotton yarn for both the warp and weft. I'm not a big fan of cotton yarn but this is very soft!

I spent a little time today with these fine fellows . . .

Youngest Daughter said, "Tribbles!" They are actually a felted pair of ears and a tail for a groundhog costume - Youngest Child has a class play next week.

Speaking of Youngest Child, he had a busy week - it was soapbox derby night! Third prize is great when you are seven!

That room cleaning I did with Youngest Daughter a couple of years ago? Very, very thorough! Lots of room in her tee shirt drawer now that the Saturday Seven is gone.

Finishing up the weekend

I'm trying to get the colors right - this is close but the actual colors are quite deep.

The warp is Fleece Artist's Merino 2/6 in Caicos and the weft is Louet Gems Merino in Teal.

Fun to weave - I'll have to make some matching fingerless mitts.

And, just in case you thought I stopped collecting Saturday Sevens, 

I love it when my daughters clean their closets!

Another week flying by

Between the crash of the end of the Ravelry Olympics and the pit of the cold I have now, things can only look better after this weekend.

My wrists were sore after finishing up all that knitting! Here are couple of better photos . . .

Mr. Daisy's Classic Socks.

Another glimpse of the toes - enormous, aren't they?

Mr. Daisy looking a bit skeptical . . .

The grey "Jet" Bag with its flower and beads  and, finally, a post-Ravelry Olympic project

another Two-Skein Scarf. This one is in blues and greys for Middle Daughter who joined a sorority with blue and and grey colors. I am  going to trim the fringe later today.

Obviously, all this knitting left no time for combing my hair! 

I'll be spending more time on the weaving projects after this weekend's Weaving Workshop over at the Yarnery. Two full days of weavey goodness.