smariek knits

Potato Chips

2013-07-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last month, the Little One told me she wanted to stop by Tuesday Morning to look for something for her grandpa for Father's Day. She got this idea from an earlier trip there when she found a nice plaque to give her grandma for Mother's Day. So off to Tuesday Morning we went. Upon walking into the store we were confronted by some yarn sitting on a shelf at the end of the aisle closest to the

Black Cable Mitt #1 (sans thumb)

2012-11-21T14:45:00.001-08:00

Ok it's been a while and the Blogger interface looks different ... let's see if I can figure out how to create a new blog post. :) Vicki gave me some Cascade 128 bulky(?) black yarn a couple years ago to make her some fingerless mitts. I haven't knit in a while and was a little rusty. It took me a while to figure out how to join a round. Eventually joined it and started knitting

Dawn's 3AM Cable Hat

2011-11-14T02:21:00.000-08:00

3AM Cable Hat Pattern: 3AM Cable Hat Yarn: 1.5 balls, Elann Superwash Bamboo, Claret Needles: 4.0mm (US6), 2 circular needles I'm slowly getting back into knitting. It seems like years since I last finished something so it feels good to finally have something to show. This is my latest FO ... my 3AM Cable Hat knit for Dawn who is currently undergoing cancer treatment. This would normally

2009 Finished Objects

2011-09-30T00:57:00.000-07:00

{Brushing the dust off of my blog} It's been a while since I looked at my blog. Life got busy and for various reasons I was unable to knit. I eventually lost my mojo. It's still missing. Have you seen it anywhere? Due to the long absence, I find the Blogger interface has been updated and I need to get reacquainted with the new way of doing things. I found this draft among my list of blog posts.

Doctor Who Scarf

2010-01-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

.Yarn colors for season 12 Doctor Who ScarfI've been looking at possible yarn colors for a season 12 Doctor Who Scarf for a few years now and could never decide for various reasons...1. Most of the challenge was trying to find all the colors from the same brand. I know I could probably mix & match, but I thought the scarf would be more consistent if made from the same yarn.2. The next thing

Blue Vista

2009-12-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

.Friday was spent furiously knitting these blue mitts so that they'd be ready in time for gifting at the Little One's Christmas Party. I had finished the main body of the 2nd blue mitt the night before and didn't have the energy to tackle the thumbs on both mitts (I was exhausted due to the late hour & my cold didn't help either), so the thumbs had to wait until Friday. I managed to finish

Exterminate

2009-12-16T23:46:00.000-08:00

.EXTERMINATE all spills with these reusable cotton washcloths. Brown cloth is modified slightly to make larger because the taupe cloth came out on the small side. I use washcloths around the house in place of paper towels. They're great for dusting furniture and blinds/shutters. I also use them as "coasters" for my teapots and large mugs..Dalek Washcloth in S&C TaupeI had to make these cuz

Jacaranda Mitts Finished

2009-12-14T00:44:00.000-08:00

I have some sad news. DD's Betta Splendens (fish), George/Dorothy, passed away yesterday. He didn't improve with a water change and he should have been comfortable with the Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth submersible heater which kept his tank toasty warm around 80°F (I kept verifying this with the digital thermometer). He was already on the large side when we rescued him from the pet store; I

Tools

2009-12-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

.Sometimes you just have to have the right tool for the job. This sewing needle threader is not it.DD has lost 2 jackets at school and I have no idea how this happens when I clearly write her name on the jackets with a Sharpie. Yes, sometimes the other kids might have the exact same jacket, but surely they are their parents should be able to tell which one belongs to their kid, right?So... I

Jacaranda Mitts

2009-12-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

.Four Rib Braid Mitts, 6th pair, left mittCan you spot the boo boo in this mitt? No? It might help to look at the 5th pair I made.Now you see the difference!(My jade bracelet is causing that bulge at the wrist)It's a bit elongated. And it was totally unintentional.If you recall, we recently replaced our dead tv and also got a Blu-ray DVD player (it came bundled with the TV). So of course I had to

Four Rib Braid Mitts 5

2009-11-30T00:08:00.000-08:00

.Pattern: Four Rib Braid Cable MittsYarn: Elann Highland Wool, Red Maple colorwayNeedles: 4.5 mm (US7)These are my 5th pair of these Four Rib Braid Mitts which I started at the beginning of November using the same yarn and colorway as my 4th pair (last photo on that page). I love this colorway. I even made a St. Albans Valentine Cable Scarf for my SIL using this same color. I last blogged about

Vine Sock 9 Finished

2009-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

.No, I didn't just whip these up since my last post about Sock #8. I'm just way behind in taking photos, sorting through them, and blogging about them. For Sock #9, I decided to make another pair just like Sock #7 using the Traveling Vine motif (see Sock #7 post for pattern details). These are for my MIL who told me she wears a size 6 to 6.5 shoe. So I tried to make these a little larger. The

Textured Sock 8 Finished

2009-11-24T00:29:00.000-08:00

.Here's Sock 8 completed. Overall I think the texture makes the sock look interesting enough, but I found it very tedious to knit. I think K2P2 rib is my favorite sock pattern.These socks are for my Mom, who has larger feet than mine. I hope they'll fit her OK. I haven't blocked the socks. I need to get some sock blockers. I keep looking at the ones from Knit Picks.Project Details:-- 2 balls

Luna Moth failure

2009-11-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

I've recently learned that Chris is undergoing chemo treatment. She could use some thoughts and prayers..Shawl unblockedDo you remember the 2nd Luna Moth Shawl I was working on with the hopes of completing it in time for a wedding way back in September? It felt large enough on the needles and I was afraid it would become too large, so I bound off. Then I laid it down flat and discovered it was

FRB Cable with a Twist

2009-11-09T22:09:00.001-08:00

.Someone pointed out this cable discussion on Ravelry, where Wenchetta wanted to know about a cable swatch she saw. For those of you who don't have access to Ravelry (sign up, it's quick & easy!), this is the photo she posted in the Ravelry discussion:Hmmm... looking at her photo, I thought it resembled the Four Rib Braid Cable which I used in my Four Rib Braid Cable Mitts. It really is very

Sock 8 Oopsie

2009-11-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

.There was a little oopsie in the the 2nd sock of Pair #8. Can you see the problem?Without thinking, I continued stockinette up the back side of the leg. I meant to start the textured pattern on the back side of the leg after completing the short row heel.lifeline, front sick of sockLifeline, back side of sockNot wanting to tink back all those rounds, what I ended up doing was using a couple of

Sock 8 Beginning

2009-10-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

.Laurel Hat photo courtesy of Jared Flood/Brooklyn TweedPaquin Cable ScarfOne of my readers pointed out a new cable hat pattern, Laurel (RavLink), from Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed), which would complement my Paquin Cable Scarf (RavLink) since it has cables that are similar to the ones I used in my scarf. Just thought I'd mention this in case you're interested in a matching hat/scarf set. His

It's been a while

2009-09-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

.Oh my, it's been quite a while since I last posted here. I haven't been feeling myself in recent months and I've been making very little or no knitting progress. I can't even stand to look at or touch yarn most of the time, the thought of yarn makes me feel itchy! I can't even think about wearing a scarf right now, not that I would want to with the warm weather we have been having. I'm feeling

Luna Progress

2009-08-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

.Making more progress...... on this shawl. You saw the beginnings here. Here's what it looks like after the 3rd repeat:3rd repeat: 1-14, 15-34 x 3... and after muddling through it a little more, I completed the 4th repeat:4th repeat, 1-14, 15-34 x4I'm working on my 3rd hank of yarn at this point (4th repeat).My first shawl, the red one, came out too short. I followed the instructions, knitting

Furniture

2009-08-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

.In an earlier post, I mentioned looking for bedroom furniture. After looking here and there, we finally settled on this set. This is my first sleigh style bed. The furniture set looks good in our bedroom. We decided not to get the mirror or the bench. I've had a mirror on an older dresser and didn't really care for it. I want to get a full length mirror instead. We don't have enough room for the

Time sink

2009-08-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

. Let's see, what's been going on in my corner of the world lately? Well, I seem to have been sucked into some Facebook games. Who knew I'd like Farm Town so much, it's quite addictive. My farm is coming along nicely, I've upgraded to the largest farm lot. I need to figure out how to arrange everything on the farm, my crops are planted in a boring square/rectangular fields. I've seen other

Sock 7 FO

2009-08-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

.Practice Pair #7 is finished, my first lace attempt here. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and I'm sure I'll use this stitch pattern again from bwt1.219 (livre bleu). Since the directions are for flat back & forth knitting, you have to convert the WS rows for knitting in the round: K <-> P; SSK <-> P2TogB; K2Tog <-> P2Tog. Easy as kahlua pie..I started both socks in this pair from

Luna Beginnings

2009-07-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

.I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately. I now have 2 books left in the 9 book Sookie Stackhouse series. I'm normally a very slow reader, however I'm zipping through this series because they're all quick easy reads. If Charlaine Harris had written 52 books in the series, I would have absolutely no problems with completing them all if I were participating in the 52Books52Weeks challenge.

Tag You're It

2009-07-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

.I've been trying to take better photos of my yarn and have found that my pics tend to come out better if I use a white towel as background. You can see this in the photos in my RavStash. The towel background pics look better than the ones with other (carpet, wood table/floor, blanket, etc) backgrounds. I've found that natural daytime light through the window works best. I get the crappiest

A mystery

2009-07-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

.--- -.-. ....Just wanted to share photos from last winter of JCH (see 25Nov07 post) washed and blocking. I soaked it in some Eucalan no-rinse wool wash, gently squeezed out excess water and laid it flat on these mats I got at Costco for about $12 (eight 24" squares). You can see an example of how I use the mats here. I love them! I recently saw a package of "kid" colored mats there. I only