Lady Knitsalot
Topic: WIP
This is one of my new nicknames I am adopting. My good friend Melanie (from the UK) sent me an email today and her greeting was "Good Afternoon Lady Knitsalot"-- I love it!-- it just sounds so proper

And speaking of proper....
Houndstooth

I had to make a few lines of this to see how it would look, now it will go in the que of knitting-to-be for after Christmas. I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky-- it is such a nice quick knit yarn to work with. With this houndstooth pattern, I think I will felt up a small bag or tote. Classy yet fun!

And last but not least...
Make sure to VOTE
Make time in your day to visit your poll location and VOTE. We are lucky our poll location is our apartment rental office--I could walk over in pjs if I wanted to!

Weekend Yarn Stuff
Topic: WIP
I made the drive up to Carefree today, it's in the upper-most north side -- I think it's almost 50 miles from our apartment. (The valley is so sprawling, I don't even think about the mileage) There is a yarn store in Carefree called Bonnie Yarn Crafts. It has some great yarns- especially ones for felting. Lots of Noro and Brown Sheep. I picked up these three skeins today... they are going to be made into Christmas gifts... my only hint is that it will be a Neapolitan theme.

Here are two more of my mystery projects:

I just completed the Cotton Candy Poncho and will take some pics of it soon-- as I don't want to give the surprise away-- It will be a gift in a few weeks. Also I have been "day dreaming" of making the perfect cardigan-- with shell buttons that can be worn on the weekend with jeans and dressed up for the office with khakis and a scarf.... what color should it be? I keep seeing a deep coffee/chocolate tweed--- the search is on!

Off to Indiana ... round 1 (ding ding)
Topic: WIP
Here is mystery project #2. I am making several of these as gifts for the holidays. Hopefully I can get a few made on the plane today.

I will be 'back home again' in Indiana (picture Jim Nabors singing) this evening. Looking forward to spending a few hours of quality shopping time with my best friend Kate in Indianapolis, and then checking into the Hotel Kilmer (Rosie and Otie's home)--Rosie and Otie are good friends who are both Professors in the Architecture/Int. Design department at Purdue. If you happen to have ESPN on Saturday-- try to catch the College Game Day show that's on before the games begin, this week they are at Purdue and we are going to try to get there early to be on TV. The game is Saturday afternoon, and we will be home on Sunday.

More crafty-ness
Topic: WIP
My special order from Barnes and Noble came in on Saturday-- and it's been my obsession ever since- There are awesome projects that I have already added to my list of WIPs-- to be shared soon!

Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
by Joelle Hoverson (click here for amazon link)

What's this?
I am making something with these items-- Luckily I work with a great group that stop by everyday and throw their pop-tops in my hello kitty collection bowl.

On the needles
Topic: WIP
So what am I up to? Lots of crafting... sushi beads and Christmas gift projects galore

Here is "mystery" project 1

I am still drooling over Mariko's Gash cardigan-- it's just A-dorable! Great Job Mariko!

Candy and Cotton Candy Ponchos
Topic: WIP
Thanks for all the lovely compliments on the Candy Poncho. For those who have been searching for the pattern, you will not find it, because this is one those "engineered in amyville" items. Yes, I have one of those left/right side feuds in my brain, and this is my engineering background and schooling showing through. I gave it the name Candy Poncho, because the pink is just so sweet and sugary, like candy. I pretty much made up the super simple pattern and ta-da-poof there was a poncho. I will of course share the engineering notes/recipe!

-- I do want to add I am quite a YARN and FIBER snob! I love all the designer stuff I get at my local yarn shops, but must give credit where it is due for Lion Brand's yarn line. I used to shudder to think of buying yarn at the craft stores-- that would squeak on my needles. Lion Brand is great, and it's the only thing I buy 'over the counter' at the craft stores.
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Recipe for success:
4 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn in "Bubblegum"
Size 17 needles --mine are 14" long
large plastic needle
Crochet hook (size K) for fringe
scissors
great movie/tv shows (oops that's an amy requirement for my basic knitting needs!)

I held two strands of the cotton-ease together and did two strand cast on of 50 stitches. Knit all rows for desired size.*

*Desired size is a little tricky - essentially, this poncho is a long rectangle folded in half and sewed up the top edge of one side, leaving a head opening on the folded side. So imagine taking a dollar bill, folding it in half to split 'ol George's head/bust and the phrase "the united states of America" in half. Then sewing about where the "m" in America is along the top "back side" the dollar bill.-- yes I am one of those visual people-- it's the instruction/curriculum gene in my system!

I sewed (using a double strand of the same yarn) my top "shoulder" seam wrong side out --by hand-- with a seam allowance of about an inch and used a back stitch for durability.-

You can opt to not do a fringe, but I think it makes it fun... I used two strands of cotton-ease cut double the length of the fringe and used the crochet hook to attach about every 1/2 inch.

There is no front or back to this poncho-- the top seam rests on the left/right shoulder. What makes this poncho elegant is:
A. it's asymmetrical
B. it follows the shape of the person wearing it
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Cotton Candy Poncho

I am currently working on a new poncho-- Cotton Candy Poncho. I am using the cotton-ease yarn again, but adding in some Crystal Palace Squiggle for about 2 inches on both ends for some added foo-foo. I will take pictures of the process and post official pattern for this style of poncho when I am complete.

To Market To Market
Topic: WIP
I had a no computer weekend... and it was great. I fell off the bloggin' wagon on Thursday because of Survivor and CSI-- and after my day at work on Friday... well it was going to be a no computer weekend. Saturday I did some yarn stash shopping, bought my first pair of ROSEWOOD needles, searched endlessly for the Rebecca mag --which is sold out here and checked out a few bead shops.

I completed the Candy Poncho! yippee! and will give it to Anny on Thursday-- so I will post pics then. I made up the official list of Christmas crafts and goodies to make and started casting on... most of those items i will post snippets of and show final pics after Christmas.

To add to my works in progress is the French Market bag - Raquel's adaptation on circular needles! (Aug. 20th post) It's going quite quickly...

Purple Poncho Eater
Topic: WIP
First of all a big THANK YOU to all the folks that have visited my blog via Mariko. I hope you enjoy my blog!


YES, I have jumped on the Poncho band wagon. I ran across this felicia yarn and fell in love with the color (note the trend: I LOVE COLOR!)- doesn't it look like grape soda? When I added the felicia yarn to my stash, I realized I had bought some cancun novelty yarn by Stacey Charles a few months back that would complement felicia perfectly. The style of my poncho is the the long rectangle, folded in half and sewn up one side leaving a neckline opening. I am knitting on 24 circulars-- so it's not laying flat (has that arc) which I know it will as soon as I get some length on this bad boy. This is my first time knitting a straight needle method on circulars- and I like this for a change.

We are going to a Labor Day cook-out party at our friend's- Mark and Cherise- home. So right know the smell of roasting Chex mix is all through the house. You just can't go wrong with Chex mix at a party! Also working on my mini foods-- keep your eyes open for some posts!

Strawberry Soda
Topic: WIP

Strawberry Soda is what I have named this ribbon long sleeved cardigan (It's the name of the yarn color as well) I love pinks/corals/oranges and I just fell in love with this yarn. The pattern was developed for me by the wonderful owner, Roberta, of "knitting in Scottsdale," an awesome yarn store in Scottsdale, AZ. I am currently working on the sleeves and hope to have this done soon, but other crafts beckon too! When I complete the next round of my mini food masterpieces I will share photos. We went to the ASU football game tonight, so I am beat, and again up past my bedtime