Off The Needles!!!

It's been a long week with this shawl ... but it is finally off the needles and have to say I'm glad.
Next time I'm using a larger weight yarn ... this one is made with lace weight. It turned out wonderful ... so light and soft. I had planned on putting a different color on the edge but didn't like it so it's just the 2 colors. Below is a bit of the detail of the main color ...


Not sure what I'm doing next ... thinking of taking a break from knitting for a while ... tho I'm sure by tomorrow I'll have changed my mind.

There are so many things I want to make ... love to create things and it's so wonderful to have a bit of ability to do it!

Miss Isy and the almost done shawl!

Here is my Miss Isy ... she loves to sit on things, especially when I'm taking a picture and when I don't want her to!


This is my almost done Daybreak shawl! so happy about it ... so much knitting and I've used almost 470 yards of the main color!!! that is a lot of yarn (just in case you didn't know), the unused part of the yarn is up in the left corner of the picture. The yellow/gold yarn will be the edge ... think it will look really nice once it's done (which I'm hoping will be today).


The little orange and brown bird is one that I made yesterday at a needle felting class ... he's so cute ... he's in a dish with a bunch of other birdies ... my kitchen is full of birds. Not sure how it turned out that I have so many bird things but I do! The next photo is some more birds and a cat that I needle felted a long time ago and is in ... the kitchen! Found the black birds at a shop over on Hawthorne the little yellow bird is by a gal here in Portland, this is her website ... www.magpieethel.typepad.com, the little owl my d-i-l, Brandie gave to me! The little dog on the left was something I found while we were still living in Thailand. The pretty photo was taken by Brandie of the gorgeous roses in the yard where I used to live!

Hoping for a creative day today ... so many things I want to do and make!
Looks like a lovely day outside and hope to get out there too!
Everyone, do something to make you smile!
thanks for visiting!

Yummy cupcake and kitties

This is a very pretty cupcake from Whole Foods Market over on Burnside here in Portland, OR! I've been wanting some cake for a while now and happened to be in WF's ... was going to get a cookie till I saw this cupcake! It was so good and very pretty too! The topping had pretty violet flowers (one of my favorites) ... got to have cake once in a while and glad that I got this one!

Now I'm going to introduce my kitties ... the Bean Family!

This is King Louie Bean ... I've had him for about 4 or so years and he is a dear, tho he can be a sort of pain when he wants attention, he won't give up ... you can push him off and he comes back, sort of like a yoyo (hahaha). If you turn your head upside down, you will see that he has a heart on the side of his nose (it's much more noticeable in person). Since we've moved to Portland, he's much more vocal and he's gotten to be a bully to Ernie ...

This is Ernest Birt Bean! he's a fluffy kitty and is completely and totally obsessed with the sink in the kitchen. If I ever want him all I have to do is turn on the water and there he is! I've had Ernie for about a year and a half and he's the most loving of all my kitties. He follows me around like a dog and likes to keep an eye on me (incase I turn on the water, I'm sure).

This is Isybelle Bug Bean ... she's my little darling. Think she weighs about 5 or so pounds and is the Queen of the house. She's known to chase Louie if he bothers her too much. When I first got her, she wouldn't let me touch her (think she had a bit of feral in her), but since we've moved to Portland she's changed so much. Still doesn't like to be picked up too much but she lets me pet her and she likes to sleep with me under the covers!

This is Pip ... she's William and Brandie's kitty, best friend to Isy and my grand kitty! She's in one of my knit bags in this photo and being her cute self. She comes up every day for breakfast (we live in an up and down duplex) and then bugs the heck out of me to go home ...

Then of course, there's Daphne ... she's also William and Brandie's kitty ... she doesn't care for Ernie or Isy (but is best friends with Louie), so she doesn't come upstairs. Don't have enough room for pictures now but will update with one of her in it!

Hope all are well, thanks for visiting my long winded blog!

Progress!

Making great progress on this shawl! loving the colors and how easy the pattern is ... tho I did chose the wrong size of yarn ... it called for fingering and I chose lace, which is really, really, thin yarn.

Really loving knitting! love that you can take a string, some needles and make something. Feel that way about most of the things I do ... sewing, jewelry making, stained glass ... now, that's really cool ... taking glass and 'painting'. Haven't done that craft in a long time ...

Really grateful that I have the ability to do the wonderful crafts that I do and that I have friends who also enjoy it ...


Going to feature one of my friends every week and the things they knit!

This is Evan, the 'wonder guy' of knitting! He learned just last August (of 2009) and is one of the most productive knitters I know! Plus, he's a lot of fun to be with!


I have pictures of the kitties that I'll share tomorrow! and a few places that I think are interesting.

Hope everyone has a lovely day! the sun is shining here (sort of) and it's not raining!!!

!

Here's the Angelwing shawl, finally finished (tho it still needs to be blocked) and just loving it! wasn't sure until I got it off the needles if I was going to like it and as soon as I put it on I loved it! there's all kinds of mishaps in it but still, it's a very pretty shawl. Want to make it again in another kind of yarn, something softer. Feeling very pleased with myself!


This is the beginning of another shawl ... it's called Daybreak and I'm crazy to be doing it in lace weight yarn. The pattern called for fingering but what do I know (?). Now I need to get color B, the bottom half of it. Had another yarn I was going to start it with but wanted to make it 2 tone ... and it doesn't go with this yarn, which is Malabrigo lace weight Cognac. Not sure what color I'm going to do the bottom in yet, have to go have a look see.

Hopefully this is what it will look like when I'm done.
Here's to a happy day being creative and staying dry ... it's raining out there.

Citron Shawl

So ... this is my first knitted shawl ... have done plenty of crocheted ones, way back in my hippy days they were the kind to wear (don't have any pictures, darn it).
This shawl has been a bit of a challenge for me, only because there are so many stitches, I'm known for dropping stitches, losing my place (I've gotten better, with the help of a little note book and pencil), ripping out and various other knitting mistakes. But, I persevered and today it will be finished! 4 more rows! so excited ...

Have so many things I want to knit ... love the creativity of taking a piece of string and making it into something to wear! it's amazing how it works ... I think about how, in years past, people made their clothing this way. There were no stores to go buy your clothes.

I am lucky to live in Portland, Oregon! there are so many lovely knit shops here and everyone is wonderful. I've only been to a few of them, Happy Knits is my favorite tho ... Sarah is the owner and a wonderful, giving woman who has created a lovely atmosphere for us to come knit and bond with other knitters. I have met so many wonderful people there and it has given me the sense of community I was looking for here.

We are coming up on 7 months here in Portland. It was rough at first. All the loss that happened in the year before was a bit daunting and then the move was hard for all of us ... my son, daughter-in-law and I. Adjusting to the weather, it's so much colder here than Costa Mesa ... (tho right now they are having more rain than we are! ), making new connections, missing friends and family was particularly hard ... but as the days pass, I see that it's the best thing I've done for myself in a long time!

This is the launch of my first entry in my blog and very excited about it!

My lovely Daughter-in-law, Brandie, designed it for me ... she's ever so creative! She and my son, William live down stairs (we have a lovely duplex, built in 1911) and it couldn't be more perfect to have them there!

It will be fun to document what I'm doing craft wise. Do various things and love to share them with others!

I'll probably be telling you the tales of my kitties, Louie, Ernie and Isybelle, plus Pippy, who comes for breakfast every day (she's Brandie's kitty).

Do a lot of walking around Portland and like to take pictures of random things ... so expect that too!

Today I'm off to lunch with some friends and then to Happy Knits (LYS) for a nice day of knitting with a fun/crazy group of knitting pals! YAY! love to knit and getting to knit with such a great group of people is even better!

Will post pictures of the day later!

Really looking forward to this year and what it has to offer!