Just a bit of crochet left.... (never mind, I finished...)

I have been meaning to make my October post, but I kept putting it off, thinking I might have a finish to show.  Well, I'm close, at least.  Here is my Fair Isle Club 2 blanket from Marie Wallin -- all the knitting is finished, just a tiny crochet border to finish.  (Which I finished after all!)

This was such a fun project to knit.  At times, the long rows seemed a bit endless, but mostly, it was just a pleasure.  I didn't follow the rules, though.  I knitted each section in the round and steeked.  I was supposed to knit the sections flat.

I would be finished with the blanket, but my arm muscles are not used to the twisting motions required of me for long periods of time with crochet.  So I had to give the border up for the day on Monday.  I will do more as my muscles allow.

Lots has happened during October.  DS has moved 6 hours drive away -- that's probably the biggest news.  We have an empty nest once again.  The Father type and I went on vacation -- to NYC.  It was fun to "live" in the city for a week.  And I got to go to Rhinebeck -- The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival on the Sunday of the festival.  I went because I wanted to learn double knitting, and Sockmatician, aka Nathan Taylor was teaching.  And I succeeded!

Here I am with the man himself, wearing my Firebirds cardigan (which I realized I've never taken a picture of with me in it, so to speak).  I'm wearing my Walking Tour scarf around my waist since I knew it would warm up enough later in the day not to be sweater weather.

My finished double knitting heart, which I actually finished after class.  Double knitting is a technique that gives you a two-sided piece of knitting.  No carrying of floats or twisting of yarns -- just the same image reversed.  (Don't look too closely.)

My Rhinebeck haul -- a sweater's worth of yummy Cormo yarn from Fox Hill Farm, a cute felted llama with knitted hat, and two lovely mugs from the same artist (Stratford House Pottery).  (And there is my double knitted heart showing the reverse side of the heart.)

And of course I saw some sheep.  :D

And earlier in the month, a bit of NYC happened.

There was more, but I'll leave it there for now (since my uploading doesn't seem to be able to access the rest.  Sigh.).

Mia, of course, is Mia.

Happy Halloween, for those who celebrate it!

February?!

So the month of January seems to have come and gone without a blog post.  I had promised myself that I would do at least one blog post a month.  I'm doing well so far!  Ahem.

Anyway, I suppose one reason I haven't posted this year is that I've just been beavering away on the same thing.  I don't think I've even shown it on this blog yet.  Well, here it is.  It's called Firebirds, and it's a design by Jade Starmore, the daughter of Alice Starmore.  It's a kit from Virtual Yarns.

Here is the swatch I knitted to check on my gauge -- just so you can get a better view of the motif.

I won a prize for the Fair Isle KAL from the lovely Fruity Knitting Podcast.  It was money towards yarn  from Virtual Yarns, and Virtual Yarns doubled the prize!  And so I was able to put that money toward buying this kit.  And I love it!  If you'd like to see a beautiful finished version of this sweater, you can see Andrea's version on her podcast.  She converted the pattern into a pullover for her husband, Andrew.

I also got to go to Vogue Knitting Live in NYC in January.  It was fun -- got to see lots of knitting celebrities and check out all the vendors.  My favorite celebrity sighting was this one.

I don't know about you, but to me, Kaffe Fassett is a god.  It was amazing to see him and Brandon Mably in the flesh.

I'll leave you with a picture of Mia.  Hope everyone has had a good start to the New Year.