Treats for the Sweet

For Easter, I have knit a collection of sweets for my two nieces, ages 8 and 5. This collection includes the center two cupcakes (pattern from Little Cotton Rabbits), and the pastries include the jelly rolls, doughnuts, strawberry jam tarts, and chocolate fingers (pattern from Jean Greenhowe's Jiffyknits). Each girl will get one of each so as it is FAIR to everyone lest the balance be upset.

These sweets were really a lot of fun to knit, and they were very quick on and off the needles. They were knit with Lion's Brand Vanna's Choice, and a little bit of Plymouth Encore.

I am going to make a cupcake for myself to sit on my desk, but it will include the beads that look like sugar sprinkles, but mine will be chocolate with sprinkles (beads).

The tiny nephew will get something too, but the details of that project are still being worked out.

Think PINK!!!

I finished the Lucy bag, and it came out better than expected. Admittedly, I am not such a fan of the color pink, but once felted this bag was double cute. The gals at the yarn shop told me that the Galway variegated pink would look like marble when felted, and it certainly did.

As I mentioned previously, I had enough yarn left over to knit a little accessory purse, and I put a button on it to match the Lucy bag. I tried to get up close, but the button was somewhat shiny and reflected too much light, so this was as close as I could get. It actually reads, "Girl Power", and it is an exact match to the pink with green accents.

This Lucy bag is the smallest version on the pattern, but knit in worsted to give it a little extra size. I will definitely knit one of these for myself - probably not in pink though...

As an aside, hubby never really has too much to say about the knitting because it just isn't his thing, but he told me he really liked this bag and thought it would be a hit!

The Fighting Irish are Fighting No More!

I have finished both the leprechauns, AKA Lucky Fellows by Alan Dart. The colors I used more closely resemble the pattern in Simply Knitting as opposed to Mr. Dart's second version on his own website. While these little guys don't look like they would be tough to complete, they are labor intensive. There were knit with a conglomeration of things in my stash, but mostly Plymouth Encore. Mom gave me the red for the beards/hair, and I think that was a Hobby Lobby fun fur thing - thanks, Mom.





As a gift for a friend's granddaughter, I have also completed the Lucy bag, and with the left over yarn made a little tiny purse for incidentals. This was knit in a Galway variegated colorway made up of Pepto pink/hot fuschia pink/white, and it is in the wash attempting to felt for the second time. Yes, of course, I know how to felt. It seems that the bag is unaware of the felting process - not me. I used Plymouth Galway as it is supposed to be a "great felter and not furry" because of no mohair; however, I fear that the meaning of "great" has been expanded to include the description of "very little"...


This is a pre-felted picture, but after the first time in the wash, it does not look that much different. I have upped the agitation level, and sent it through in a second attempt.





I am now working on Easter projects for the nieces, and Natty wants to help with the little pastries so badly that they have had to be stowed away in a ziplock bag. This will include a collection of pastries from the Jean Greenhowe book, Jiffyknits. I was originally only going to make them for my youngest of the two nieces, and make something else for the older, but I have been informed by their mother that that will never do. Since my older niece has appointed herself to be the Commissioner of Fair, she is getting a set as well so that war does not break out in their home. The nephew, however, will get something else entirely, and I am hoping the Commissioner will let that infraction slide...

Down With The Little People!!!

The cursed little people in question are the leprechauns that I have been attempting to complete - for what seems like eternity. The assembly process of these little devils is quite complex (even for my taste), and I am feeling somewhat, no wait, openly hostile towards them.

This is likely due to the fact that I am making two at once, and I do realize that this is a mistake of my own doing. I will say they are going to be double cute, but I have grown weary of them none the less. The assembly process is winding down, and the project has been grounded to home assembly so as not to lose any of the pieces.

In the interim, I have been working on the Lucy Bag for a friend's granddaughter. So far, this pattern seems pretty easy, although I am questioning some of the verbage at the post-felting point.

I will try to post pics this weekend of the little Irish men sometime tomorrow if possible, and I leave you with a final and heart felt thought.

DOWN WITH THE LITTLE PEOPLE!!!

Valentine's Party at the Chu's

The Friday night before Valentine's Day (aka Valentine's Eve), I went to my sister's house so that I could do Valentine's Day crafts with her girls, and so we could all have pizza together. We forgot to take pictures of the pink and red yarn octopi that we made, but I did get a picture of everyone with their red yarn Valentine's wig on.

We even made a wig for Max, who was somewhat less than thrilled, but still a pretty good sport...

The only thing I have to knit on the leprechauns are one last arm and the two top hats. I am having trouble finding the little plastic pots that are sold as pots for gold around St. Patrick's Day. I have found a fairly large size, but the size I am looking for is about the size of a small apple - anyone seen any of those of late?

007 Versus Dr. Zaius

The aformentioned "object" is the Presto Chango sweater, and was knit in Wild Horse Fantasy in a color called FA-99. Don't you wish the yarn companies would give you names rather than numbers??? There is something so off-putting about just having a number.


At any rate, the color is a pretty true cinnamon. I made the 6 month size, and it came out to gauge, but this is a VERY generous 6 month size as you can see - but I guess that means more wear time for the kid. This was knit for a friend's new baby named Guy who was born 12/26/2008.





Natty voluntarily tried on this sweater, but I neglected to get a pic. Guy's mother, not wanting her cat to be outdone, considered trying the sweater on one of her cats (Dr. Zaius), but opted for just a photo of him near the sweater lest he remove an arm for the indignity...







Is it just me, or does Guy have the same look on his face that Dr. Zaius has about trying on the sweater?


I am working on the leprechauns - yes two of them. I can explain. It's just that Mike never is really excited about my knitting, and when he said he would like to have one I lost my head and started making one for his station at school, and one or my office. I should have thought this through a little more carefully as these are hands down some of the fussiest items on the planet. In fact, this leprechaun thing is a whole lot like work, which is not what I had planned for myself at all!

OO7 Knits Again...

I am nearly finished with a, er, uh, an object - yea that's it, an OBJECT. This is a gift for a friend, and she sometimes reads my blog - no clues or pics until the gift has been received. She doesn't even know I am making anything for her, and that is why I am knitting/blogging in 007 mode.


I can't decide what my next project will be. I usually know three projects in advance what I will be making next, but after my last nine projects being for other people I am a little giddy at the prospect of knitting something for myself...


I am trying NOT to knit socks between now and the end of April as I am going to the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling with my mom.

Some of the things I am considering in the meantime are:

Hococo the Lemur - Alan Dart
Jack Frost - Alan Dart - no picture available yet as it was published in Simply Knitting.
Leprechaun- Alan Dart
Witch and Cat - Alan Dart - I am thinking in orange and black with some sparkles worked in somehow...
Dickensian Party Mice - Alan Dart
Mr. and Mrs. Christmas - Alan Dart
Initial Imps - Alan Dart
Pepto & Tums - Mochimochi - maybe just Tums
Boo - Mochimochi

I also could finish the clothes for my Prairie Harze, but they might still be hibernating through winter...

I will leave you with my most recent and favorite quote that I have discovered:

Excuse me, I have work to do.

Evil plots do not make themselves...

Don't You Hate It When...

Don't you hate it when somebody posts pictures of you on their blog that you trusted them with??? Okay, I am the guilty party, but in a shameless plug for a dog sweater that started out in a book, and ended up on the needles to be something totally different that I designed myself I am posting some pictures that a friend entrusted me with.


The sweater is for my friend Carol's Chihuahua who is full grown and weighs less than three pounds. He came from an abusive home, and Carol and her hubby rescued him. He is so tiny and the cold is a real problem for him. He has a couple of little shirts, but doesn't care for them so much because he cannot tolerate things being pulled over his head because of the former abuse.


Hmmm. Abused and cold, that's all a knitter ever needs to hear to get the needles humming. This little sweater is only about seven inches long from cast on to cast off. It was knit with Lion Brand/Vanna's Choice Baby in the Goldfish colorway. It really is a dusty salmon color, and is cushiony and soft. The body of the sweater is in seed stitch so that it does not stretch out and get too big, and the edges have a three stitch garter rim.

Here is my friend Carol holding him. I crocheted (believe it or not) two little fastener loops and attached two black buttons.

The little Chihuahua's name is Uno, and apparently he runs the house. He is still pretty timid, but is working through his issues. Carol told me that he acted like he liked his new sweater because he marched around with it on, and snuggled down in it.

Carol and Uno, thanks for being such good sports and indulging me with photos!

Two more finished projects for 2009, and I believe that makes eight! Truly, I am not a production knitter, but more of a process knitter (unlike DM), not that you would know it by my recent progress so far this year...


I tried the Fantasty yarn by Dark Horse Yarns. It feels soft to the hands, but not quite as soft to the neck. Also, in a total of four skeins, two of each color used below, there was at least one knot in each skein of yarn. They were easy enough to untie, but still an annoyance. Also, the yarn was the tiniest bit splitty, but that could have been me as I was trying to really get these two scarves behind me and in the mail, and was knitting at the speed of light. There were also unprocessed bits of hard plastic (for lack of a better way to put it) that were similar to broom straws here and there, and the joins of the yarn that looked as if the ends had been glued together in some sort of a twist. I tried pulling out the glued areas planning to give the yarn a new twist, and luckily enough all those spots pulled out without too much trouble, and required only a minumum of work to smooth down the areas in question. The yarn was affordably-priced, and appropriate for a gift to non-fiber/non-knitting friends, but not as good as I had expected. It is softer than the value-priced Encore, but disappointingly the quality is not nearly as high as I think this yarn may be inclined to pill quickly.


The first scarf is knit with the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern which I got from Ravely. This pattern is super simple to follow, and the results are far more impressive than the amount of work it takes to complete this project. As mentioned above, this was knit with the Fantasy yarn, and measures 70 inches as it was made with the intention of being tied with the European Loop method. This scarf is really a deep crimson red, and not the cherry red as the picture shows. The friend who this was knit for fancies himself a cross between James Bond and JFK, and requested a color that 007 would wear.

The second scarf is the Basketweave Scarf by Ann Budd. I am aware that she is practically knitting royalty, but I did not enjoy knitting this scarf. While the instructions were not difficult, they were extremely tedious, and made me want to set the pattern on fire a number of times. This scarf was also knit with Fantasy, is allegedly reversible, and measures 70 inches as well.

To be honest, the Irish Hiking Scarf is far more impressive than the Basketweave Scarf, but that is just my impression. I have not really knit a lot of scarves before, and now I know why - they are as boring as boring can be. I would possibly make the the Irish Hiking Scarf again, but not the Basketweave. It was just too boring, and I had to rip it out too many times because the boredom lulled me into making mistakes. As mentioned above, it wasn't hard, just tedious because of the 18 row pattern repeat, and BORING!

I am happy to mail these scarves off to the friends to whom they will soon belong; wear them in good health, Mike and Kathy!

Shhhhh. You Must Be Vewy, Vewy Qwuiet...

I am working on a project for two friends that live out of town, but peek in on the blog now and again so I don't want to give any of the details away. I have one of the two items finished, and the second item is about one-fourth finished.

I will be mailing them by this coming weekend or shortly thereafter if things go as planned, and I will post pics once the package has been received.

In the meantime, mum's the word.

Little Star Bag

The bag was knit in the star stitch, and with the Debbie Mumm Traditions Yarn (Pine Needle Green colorway) that The Great Enabler gave me in one of our knitting group's stash swaps. I made two panels so that the stars would be going the right direction, seamed at the bottom and both sides, and finished off with several rows of garter stitch to keep the top edge from rolling. For what seemed like an eternity, I made a six stitch I-cord for the handle, and then a three stitch I-cord for the fastening loop. The button is something I got at Hobby Lobby several years ago.


I had originally considered lining the bag, but have decided against it as I have so many other irons in the knitting fire. Also, the star fabric is fairly dense, and I do not intend to carry anything in it that will poke through the knitted fabric.

I know this bag is no big whoop, but it is the first thing that I have ever designed and knit, and I thought it was post-worthy.






A shot that is a little bit closer so that you can see the detail in the button, as well as the star stitch.

Gettin' My Fussy On!

Sheldon, currently known as the turtle of hate, is finished! This little fella definitely gave me the chance to embrace the fussy.


The instructions for the applied I-cord to assemble the attachment panel and the shell were at best extremely flawed, and I have made numerous projects with applied I-cord, so this is not a new skill for me. I decided to just use a mattress stitch after several failed attempts (and turning the air blue with profanity) because the instructions were not panning out. This is a free pattern from Knitty, so I can't really fuss too much, but it was a challenge.


Linda and Christy have taunted me that I am not able to make just one of any given item, and so the gauntlet has been thrown down. I am pleased to report that I have risen to that challenge. I will only be making one of these horrid little turtles.


He is cute, but way, way too much trouble to EVER repeat this pattern. I have seen on Ravelry that lots of folks made several Sheldons - all I can say is there is no explaining crazy...


The Designer Sport yarn worked well as it is very soft, and I did not stuff him too full so that he would stay snuggly.

I am not entirely pleased with the eyes, but they are embroidered on so that little fingers cannot snatch off an eye and swallow any small pieces.

Tomorrow is my nephew's first birthday, but I will be delivering Sheldon the Horrible a few days late. It's kind of early, but Happy Birthday, Max! Aunt Terri loves you.

Progress on the Terrapene carolina...

TRANSLATION: Progress on the common box turtle...

A few weeks ago at a knitting get together, I mentioned to my fiber pals that I did not know why I had been so drawn to knitting toys as of late, and the Great Enabler thought that it might be because it "gave me the chance to be fussy..."

Yea, I see the irony, and maybe the Pope is Catholic too, right?

I recognize that I am the slightest bit detail-oriented, and possibly a little obsessive as well. The Sheldon pattern from Knitty is not exactly a hard pattern, but it leans heavily on the fussy side of things. This is not a pattern to knit mindlessly on at all. The pattern calls for Knit Picks Shine Sport, which is 60% cotton. Cotton makes my hands tired, and with all the pattern work on the shell I did not feel like fighting with a no-give fiber. I chose Designer Sport yet again because it is very soft, and it has a nice "sproing" quality. I am using the colorways Pistachio and Celedon for Sheldon.

Don't let my whining put you off if you are interested in making a Sheldon, just plan to spend some very focussed time with the project.



He is coming along, and believe it or not the shell has been the quickest part of him to knit so far. I think he will be very cute, and I hope much loved by my nephew, Max. This will be for his birthday, but will likely be completed after the fact. Also, his eyes will not be plastic, but embroidered on for safety's sake - Max is soon to turn one.

The body has been stuffed and seamed, but the instructions request the legs be stuffed and attached later.






This is the nearly half-completed shell. I had my doubts about it in the beginning, but so far so good.




Off to knit.

Knitting Needles Moving at the Speed of Light...

I have been knitting furiously to have the Party Penguins all knitted and assembled by today as it is my niece's fifth birthday today. Happy Birthday, Lucy! Time has gotten away from me, and I fear that I may be late on the nephew's gift now, but I still have two days...






I also re-knit the bows on the little elephants so that they could have a firmer join, and not curl. I re-knit them in stockinette, and they came out great. Here they are with the penguins wearing their new and improved bows.








These are two of the shrugs that I made for Christmas gifts for my friends at work. The purple shrug being worn on the left is knit from Bernat Satin in Plum Mist Heather, and is for my friend and boss, Sylvia. The blue shrug being worn on the right is knit from Designer Sport from Red Heart in the denim colorway, and is worn by my friend Carol who is the clerk/tech for the department.






Both of the girls were good enough to turn around so the patterning could be seen.






As you can seen, they were both really good sports to model and pose with the Dream in Color Shrugs, which more accurately could be called Dream in Bernat and Red Heart in this case...





With two days to go to get Sheldon finished and assembled, I've got to get the needles in high gear.


I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year!

Shortly Has Arrived...

NOTE: Photo heavy post.

In my last post, I mentioned that regular postings and lots of knitting would "return shortly". In the past day or so, some weisenheimer called me on the "shortly" reference and asked when that would be??? The answer is that "shortly" is a relative term, kind of like when you your mother says, "we'll see..."

I have been knitting (quite a lot), just not posting about it. I have a variety of reasons, none of which seem to hold up in the Court of Mom, but still valid in my world none the less. Without further ado, the aforepromised knitting post. Drum roll please (((brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr))))...

These are the dishcloths that I knit for various Christmas gifts, and also the pair of footy/slippers that I knit for a friend so that she could give them to her grandson for Christmas. Sorry about the blurriness, this was before Cheryl helped me with my camera.

The round dishcloths were threaded with satin ribbon, filled with a surprise, and turned into this.

For three ladies that I work with, I knit them book marks. It is the diamond lace bookmark pattern, knit from Lanett, a Sandnesgarn yarn that is 100% merino. They were a deep red, but very Christmas-appropriate. As you can see, they blocked out pretty well.

Christmas morning at my home looked like this.

These are the Flower Power Elephants. I have not yet embroidered the daisies on them, and may not as the previous attempts have looked somewhat out of focus. If the daisies are not going to turn out crisp, I see no point.

I am currently working on the Party Penguins by Alan Dart, and I hope to have a few done in rather short order.

I received two gift certificates from Mike for Christmas to The Yarn Shop and More and The Studio.

We had Christmas with my side of the family on 12/19/2008 at my sister Cristy's house, and this is a picture of Cheryl, me, Cristy, and Mom. My mother says that my clothes are all still a mile too big, and since this photo I have bought some clothes that are several sizes smaller. I still hate to see myself in photos; however, it doesn't help that I am standing near all these skinny hussies. I think I always look like the tard that gets let out of the institution for holidays in pictures...

I have discovered that I am highly sensitive if not allergic to mohair, and that was a bummer as I really wanted to make the Ice Queen project, but it wasn't to be. However, my mother's Ice Queen came out beautifully.

I will have more pictures later on as soon as all the gifts for friends are opened. As far as when, "don't ask me any questions!" Can you guess who says this to me?

One guess where this direct quote comes from...

Lastly, I have started selling Avon. Not to worry, Avon ladies are not set for the attack mode like the Mary Kay ladies. If you have an interest or use Avon, I have a webpage that can be found at: http://tphillips4848.avonrepresentative.com/

On this site, you may pay with debit or credit card, and I also have the ability to take debit and credit cards. The site is good for convenience if you don't have a book, but I still prefer to flip through the pages. Sometimes Avon runs free shipping deals, but otherwise be sure to mark "Free Rep Delivery" so you do not get charged an extra fee.

The Knitting Hussy Will Return Shortly...

Just a brief service announcement to advise that I have the good camera in my possession (no more crap photos), and that I will be back in the full knitting/photographic swing on 12/10/2008 or shortly thereafter.

The RHIT program is not for me. I also have decided I do not want to manage anyone but myself; I'm something of a handful on my own. My personal activities are a full-time job, and I am not interested in pursuing any additional schooling at this point.

Look out knitting world, the semester is winding down, and I'm planning to hit the ground running!

Dreams, Spares, Harze, and Cookies...

I am taking a brief respite from knitting the Harze to knit something out of the norm for myself. It is the Dream in Color Shrug shown at the far left. However, I am trying to knit down my stash, and I am making this in a really pretty deep eggplant color in Plymouth Encore. Maybe it should be called "Dream in Encore" in this case. The picture does not show much of anything, and yes DH still has the good camera, but you will just have to take my word for it that it is coming out very nicely. I know not everyone likes Encore, but it is a good budget-friendly choice with tons of color options, and the ability to be machine washed and dried - plus it looks pretty good for the lace in this pattern too.


As far as the spare goes, DH brought me home a spare head, and I was pretty thrilled. This is one of his mannequin heads that he has gotten down to the final cut on in school, and he donated it to me for hat blocking and fitting purposes.



In reference to the Harze, I have three assembled, and one is still in the dismembered status right now. I will probably assemble the fourth hare sometime tomorrow. However, I am taking a short break from them lest I decide to make rabbit stew. I will finish their little outfits after I finish the above mentioned shrug.






As I may have mentioned two or fifty times, I do not like the intrusion on my time that school seems to demand. I have realized that at times my mood has been a bit dark as I feel very put upon by my lack of time to do anything I enjoy. I do not know how people with kids go to school - I only have a husband and a cat and some days I am overwhelmed!!! With the whole dark mood and overwhelmed theme, I have found a sign to hang on my front door, and probably in my cube at work too. How bad could a place be that gives you cookies?

Holiday weekend, hah!

I am glad to have some time to spend with Mike, but less than delighted how much time the homework has taken this weekend.

I was one of the judges at the Irish Fest again this year, and that was kind of a bust. Last year, I judged on Saturday and got to see all different types of knitted objects - sweaters, hats, shawls, and even an evening dress...

This year, I could only attend on Sunday because of my school schedule. There were only THREE items entered for today's competition, and the theme was cabling. Three afghans, and not my favorite knitted object by a long shot - but I did my best to judge fairly. Two were done in ivory, and one in a blue-green. One afghan was covered in dog hair, one was a little worse for wear around the edges, and that only left the blue-green to be the winner - what happened to only submitting pristine items in contests??? I was told that the general competition was slim for admissions on Saturday as well. I have no idea what happened, and there were a ton of people at the festival.

I have not had too much time for knitting, once again, the wretched school work - bleck!

Oh yea, and someone who wandered up to the table at last week's knit night asked if I was knitting the rabbits for my GRANDCHILDREN!!! That was a lot of fun - right, not so much!

I'd like to knit a little bit tonight, but I am too tired to concentrate, and I need to get my schedule book out to schedule my study/homework slots for this coming week.

Maybe next time I will have photographic proof of progress on the knitting front...

Hot Off the Needles

These two little knitted creatures have been my constant companions for the past month or so. I have worked with the Debbie Bliss Toy Knits book, as well as admiring the work of Little Cotton Rabbits, and many other toy artists as well.

I have taken some individual elements from several designs, mixed them with some of my own ideas, and this is what I have come up with. In dressmakers' terms, this would be my muslin mock-up for the design.

Once I get good and find my own design niche, I may sell some on Etsy, assuming anyone would want one of these besides me...

And without further delay, I give you The Prairie Harze. No, this is not a misspelling, I know how to spell "hares", I just really wanted the name to be my own.




The boy bunny, on the right, is the oldest, and as you can see I have been experimenting with the size of the feet, the head, the length of the arms, the width of the ears, as well as clothing lengths and sizes. Their names are Hatti and Herschel.





What good little sister would not be willing to stand on top of her brother for a good photo op?


I know, the harze are not there yet, but they are coming along - I hope.

The end/s, and that's all folks...

Oh, for Heaven's Sake...

This is one of my personality flaws - once I decide something, i.e. the date school starts for instance, I become set in my own delusions.

For example, I thought because the first two classes that I had registered for this semester started on 08/25/2008 that the third class that I added would also begin the same date. You know, same school, same curriculum, yatta, yatta, yatta...

For some unknown reason, possibly the grace of God, possibly mental illness, I happened to check my fall/2008 semester schedule this morning and nearly had an attack!

The third class begins on 08/18/2008 - NOT 08/25/2008 as I delusionally believed. I know that I still have a LITTLE BIT OF TIME to prepare, but NOT MUCH!

If you hadn't guessed, I'm a LITTLE anxious any time my schedule changes, and I am not really delighted with interruptions. My personality just does not really want to lend itself to all this willy nilly changing. I need to plan, to contemplate, and savor the last bits of freedom until the academic Armageddon that I have registered for closes in around me. My rational mind tells me, "It's just three classes; not to worry. You have taken 18 hours per semester in the past, and that turned out fine..." Unfortunately, the size of the rational side of my brain is shrinking on a daily basis, and I fully anticipate full blown hysteria by 08/18/2008.

If anyone is looking for me, I will be the person hyperventilating in the corner rocking back and forth with my knitting needles in hand, and muttering unintelligible sounds...