a dillydallyknitter

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Happy Easter!


On Saturday morning I finished the first Twin sweater:

Dream in Color Classy in 'Beach Fog' (not yet blocked). And started the second:


Since the babies are fraternal twins, I chose a different but complimentary color, 'Some Summer Sky". I love knitting with this yarn. The colors are so happy and the yarn is soft.

I happen to have all the colors of Dream in Color in my stash to make the Tulip Baby cardigan but lately the pregnant mothers I've been knitting baby gifts for either don't want to know the baby's sex or, in the one case where she did find out, is having twin boys.

Later that afternoon, I watched a recording of "Madame Butterfly" off my DVR and I got pretty far with sweater 2:


Can I point out how much I love Jelby's stitch markers--they're just too cute:

I'll have enough yarn to make a baby cap for each one too. Since the sweaters so simple, I'm thinking of the Simple Baby Cap 2 from Itty Bitty Hats since it also has a rolled edge.

Happy Easter everyone!

Labels: ,

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Tiptoeing Through the Tulips...

...In Hand Knit Socks Of Course.
Or, What I Did Over the Easter Weekend


This past weekend I flew up to Washington to visit my sister. My Mom had flown up two days earlier so it was a girl's weekend. On Friday we took a day trip out to Mt.Vernon, Washington to see the tulips in bloom. My mother and I pride ourselves on always managing to bring sunshine with us when we visit Washington and Friday was no exception. It was a GORGEOUS and sunny warm day and perfect for tulip viewing:

My April Socktopia sock had to make an appearance:
The bands of colors stretching across the fields were amazing:

On Saturday the weather was not so sunny so we drove to Seattle to do some shopping. On the way I'd say things like, "Oh, I think 'The Weaving Works' is located in this area" and my mother and muggle sister happily obliged by agreeing to not just one but THREE yarn store "just a peek" stops.

My mini shop reviews:

The Weaving Works is a great shop. If I was a local, I'd be tempted to hang out there. A lot. I really liked the yarn selection and, if I lived in Seattle, I might be inclined to try my hand at a basket weaving class. My Mom asked for a pair of socks so we picked out a Jitterbug by Colinette skein of sock yarn and I bought some Tofusties for the Soctopia challenge sock. My sister commented that no one offered to help her and that put her off a little.

Our next stop was Tricoter. This store was very nice but the yarns are sorted by colors. My Mom liked the presentation it made (and it is very pretty) but I found it confusing. We were asked if we needed assistance by everyone there (almost to the point of "too much" help). I also got the sense that they are more about putting together "project" knitting for their customers vs. a good old fashioned let me wander the bins and and pet the yarn kind of shop.

Our last stop was So Much Yarn in downtown Seattle (I think it was near the Belltown area but don't quote me). This was a very cozy shop shop and the two women working there were very friendly (the perfect balance between being at the ready to help and hanging back enough to let me shop). I'd been wanting to try the Panda Cotton so I bought 2 skeins there and some Lantern Moon Sox Stix because you never know when you'll need more sock needles.

On Sunday we went to brunch at a place called Salty's on Alki Beach. Again the weather was wonderful and we were treated to a beautiful view of the Seattle waterfront. The food was delicious and, of course, I ate too much. I have to mention that this restaurant had the friendliest staff. Everyone, the hostesses, the valet, the waiter and they guy who made my omelet was so friendly that it made the overall experience even better. (We suspect that they may be Canadian) I definitely want to go back!

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

WIP Wednesday, YP Friday and Happy Easter!

I'll be a little busy the next several days so I thought I'd do a 3-in one combo post.


Cartoon shamelessly borrowed from LixieKnitsIt

WIP Wednesdays

So, after battling the plague last week, I managed to complete a whopping THREE repeats of the pattern:

The pattern charts are separated into Chart A, B, C, etc. with moss stitch sections thrown in. I can't remember the sequence so I had to tag each section with a letter until I can read the knitting better.

Dad Sock update: I finished one sock out of the Lorna's Laces Shepherd sport. He tried it on and this time, IT WAS TOO SHORT. GAH! But luckily I can fix it this time.

YP Fridays

Yesterday an new LYS opened. Actually, the owner bought out the previous owner so it's a re-named and re-vamped LYS. The owner is quite nice and seems open to new ideas to make this a more community knitting store.

The new shop was re arranged and a sofa brought in so it's bright and cozy. The jury's still out on the yarn selection though. It looks like she's taken over the inventory of the previous shop but she manged to get a few skeins of Lornas Laces:

So, in support of shopping locally, I bought the Vera colorway because it reminds me of raspberry truffles.




Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

Labels: , ,