I finally finished my SIL's scarf. This is a the Finnish Lace pattern from Vogue knitting in Berroco Softwist.

A close-up of the stitch pattern. I really enjoyed this lace pattern and was pretty excited that I could go to the book, pick a pattern that I liked, add a garter stitch border, and create a scarf. It was such a thrill!

This yarn, while gorgeous and soft to touch, is a pain to work with. I think that if I had been using bamboo to knit with the duller points would have worked better, but my Denise needles just split this yarn like mad which, in turn, drove me mad quite a few times. This is the 4th reincarnation of this scarf. Each time with a different pattern.

In non-knitting news, Mike renewed his reserves contract last weekend. It was a moment of great importance for him as the Vice Admiral in charge of the Navy Reserves did his reenlistment. Here's a pic of my sailor in his dress whites. He's sharing a few words after reenlisting for another 6 years. I'm so proud of him.

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.

What kind of yarn are you?
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Some Updates

Multidirectional Scarf

Classic Elite Fame

The yarn that you see on the left-hand side of my scarf is what was left after I cast off the last stitch. It was a little tense there for a moment. I wasn't sure I was going to have enough yarn so I did not attempt the optional ending posted with the pattern.

My So Called Scarf in handpaintedyarn.com Magnolia colorway. Ready to ship to my Secret Scarf Exchange recipient.

The children chillin' on the newly slipcovered couch. (Trouble on the left and Fuzzy on the right) I think they like each other now. :)

Late is better than never...

For a long time my dream has been to get my degree. I went straight from High School to College and then got slightly derailed by a really freaky religious group that I stayed in for a little over six years. So...back to the real world with only a year of college under my belt. Finally time to start making my dreams reality.

Now, I have some health problems that I may or may not have mentioned here before. One of my issues, in particular, has made it difficult for me to go to school full-time in the past. Being out of above-mentioned religious group (affectionately known as "the crazy cult") has lowered my stress level immensely. I'm an ambitious kind of girl (have you seen my list of things to knit lately?) so I decided to try going to school full-time, albeit online. In February of this year I graduated with my Associates Degree in Business Administration. This spring I return to a brick and mortar school to continue my education and complete my Bachelors in English/Secondary Ed. So...while this is all fresh in my mind...a graduation picture (yes, I had one. It was a virtual graduation, all done through the internet) :)

Scarf Exchange Take Two + Kepler Along + a little Kiri

I was having some issues with the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It wasn't the pattern...I really like it. It was the combination of the yarn and the pattern that was worrying me.

Enter My-So-Called scarf. If you think this looks familiar, you're right. I knit this scarf for myself in this pattern last winter. I love this pattern and the yarn (Handpaintedyarn.com's worsted weight merino in the magnolia colorway) I was saving the last skein that I had for the matching hat pattern, but before I printed off the pattern had been sold to a magazine. Now...I'm super excited for the girl who wrote the pattern, but a little bummed that I didn't print it when I first saw it. No matter though, the yarn came in handy. I don't need another My So Called Scarf, but I do love knitting it so it was the perfect replacement for the Chevron Scarf for the Secret Scarf Exchange. I really hope my recipient likes it. I'm planning on mailing it the second weekend of September if not earlier.

In other knitting news...I've joined the Kepler Knitalong that Amy is hosting. Emily has created a masterpiece and is graciously sharing the pattern for Kepler with the rest of the knitting world. I swatched for Kepler with Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride worsted in dark charcoal the other day. I'm not happy with the cable definition in this yarn. It's wonderful yarn and I love working with it, but it's not working for this pattern. The yarn has been reassigned to another project (Dad's felted clogs for Christmas) and I have purchased what I hope to be a sufficient amount of Cascade's Eco Wool in Mocha. I'll be casting on to swatch for that as soon as it arrives.


I've also joined the Kiri KAL. This is my first true experience with lace. I'm in love with this pattern. I think it's an excellent beginners pattern since it is charted and written affording the beginner the opportunity to "cheat" while trying to get the hang of reading the chart. I've completed Chart 1 and 2 repeats of Chart 2. I'm using KnitPicks Shadow in Oregon Coast. This yarn is so amazing. So soft and the colors are fantastic. This picture doesn't do the colors justice. From across the room it looks tan, but up close there are all these colors incorporated in it. It absolutely reminds me of a sandy beach.

Another Exchange Update

After spending more time reading my recipient's blog and working on the Chevron Scarf in the sock yarn I've decided it's not really what I was going for so I've switched patterns and yarn and am about 1/2 done with the scarf. Pictures soon...

Scarf Exchange Update

After reading my recipient's blog and looking through all my patterns I decided on the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Now, since I'm a KnitPicks devotee off I went to pick out some sock yarn (the pattern calls for KPPPM). I was looking for something a bit darker and the colors are pretty bright, but it's growing on me. It's Sock Garden Zinnia for anyone who is curious. I'm really liking this pattern. I started it on 5s and then ripped it out and started again on 6s and it seems to be working much better now. On the 5s the chevron pattern was causing it to bunch a bit too much.

I'm still working on Branching Out, but haven't taken any pictures of it lately. There's not much of a change. When I decided that it wasn't going to be my exchange scarf it got put on hold.

I'm also still working on a pair of black socks out of Cascade Fixation and a sweater for Mike. Those are kind of slow going right now, but I'm about 2 inches from the toe decreases on the first sock.