"Are You Knitting a Christmas Tree?!?!?"

That is a question that I heard more than once as I worked on Juanita's scarf at work this week.  I can see why people must have thought that.  This yarn -- Bernat Disco in Jungle Jive -- is sort of a Victorian Christmas green, with some glittery strands of the same color throughout.  Although the color is hard to see in this picture, it is really very pretty.  As my friend Mechelle put it, "there is just enough sparkle to put just the right amount of glitz in the scarf without making it look too "tinselated."  (Is that a word????)  I finally decided last weekend what needles to use to knit the scarf.  I wanted  a very drapey and soft fabric, so I ended up using size 19's.  I started the scarf Sunday morning while sipping my morning tea, and by the time I had finished my second cup of tea, the scarf was half done.  Ahhh, the benefits of using telephone poles to knit with!  I took the scarf to work and finished it over the course of a couple of lunchtimes this week.  I will give it to Juanita either this afternoon or this weekend. 

The Carnival Scarf is almost finished, also.  The colors are really pretty and I think adding the fringe will really "make" this scarf, as it did in the India Sunset scarf.  Also, I arrived home from work Tuesday night to find a package from Smiley's Yarns at my door!  It was full of Patons Divine in the color Amethyst Allure.  It is for a sweater pattern that I absolutely fell in love with in the September issue of Creative Knitting magazine.  It is on page 20, and it is called Autumn Warmth.  I would love to knit this up for myself this winter.  Lately, if I don't get to knit at least a few minutes a day, I feel like I am missing something!  It really is true what they say about knitting being "Zen."  It is very relaxing to me.  Besides knitting at lunchtime every day, I also enjoy knitting for a while right before bedtime.  I used to read then, but lately knitting has been taking over.  The combination of incense burning, relaxing music playing and knitting needles clicking is irresistable!  Or should I say addictive!  Anyway, I am hooked on the experience. 

One last note -- non knitting related.  Remember the 4th Bob Ross painting class I took?  I mentioned it a few entries ago and said that I planned to give the painting to a dear friend for her birthday.  Well, yesterday I gave it to her.  She loved it!  It is a painting of the nearby Crabtree Falls in Nelson County, Virginia.  It is one of Debbie's very favorite places.  I have posted a picture of it above after Juanita's scarf. 

The Carnival is Back in Town!

When I was a kid, one of the highlights of summer vacation was the Fireman's Carnival that came to our town every July.  I was fascinated by the rows and rows of booths where you could play games and win incredible prizes, the gypsy fortune tellers with their crystal balls and tarot cards, the hall of wonders where you could see all sorts of oddities.  And of course, the rides -- complete with flashing lights and blaring music.  This week, the Fireman's Carvinal was back in town.  Alas, it has lost the allure and mystery and magic it held for me in my youth, but it did serve another purpose this year.  It reminded me of a scarf that I had started last year that got lost in the avalanche of Christmas knitting.  It was the Carnival Scarf and I was knitting it out of Lion Brand Incredible in the color named Carnival.  Above is a picture of that scarf as it was last year before Christmas knitting took over and buried it in the "Pile Of Undone Projects."  Since I do not have Juanita's Scarf ready to start, I decided to resurrect the Carnival Scarf in honor of summertime and childhood memories. 

Still Undecided

Even though both "The Blues" striped scarf and the Night Life scarf are now on the completed list, Juanita's scarf has not made it to the WIP list yet.  That is because I can't decide what to do with it.  I have tried several needle sizes, including the whopper 35's, but I cannot get a satisfactory "nice feeling fabric."  I have decided that even though the two yarns are gorgeous together, I will have to knit them seperately.  I am going to make a regular scarf out of the Bernat Disco, and I am thinking about making a shawl out of the Lion Brand Suede.  I am not sure what pattern I will use for that, either the same one that I am using for my own Suede Shawl, or a pattern from one of the new knitting books that I got while on vacation.  There are lots of gorgeous shawls to choose from in these great books.  I have added a picture of these books above.  And speaking of vacation, I have also added a couple of pictures from one of our road trips.

Today I got my new issue of Creative Knitting in the mail.  There are three patterns in there that really caught my eye.  Remember the search for the perfect yarn for a belt for my niece Megan?  Well, on page 32 and 33 of this issue, there is a pattern for The Cat's Eye Scarf that doubles as a belt. The Cat's Eye is the stitch that they feature in this month's "Noteworthy Stitch" article.  It is an easy 4 row repeat done over a multiple of 4 stitches.  I like this stitch!  It looks like it would be a lot of fun to knit.  Much more interesting than the regular tried and true garter stitch scarf!  And I like the fact that this can be worn as either a scarf or a belt, depending on Megan's mood!  The samples were knit out of Paton's Grace, and I think that would be perfect for Megan.  I feel another trip to Michael's coming on!!

The other patterns that caught my eye are The Autumn Warmth sweater on pages 20/21, and the Fall comfort Coat on pages 24/25.  Both of these garments are gorgeous, and would make wonderful additions to my fall wardrobe.  Since my precious knitting time is so limited, I usually stick to smallish projects so that I can feel like I get at least some things accomplished, but both of these patterns call for bulky or super bulky yarns, so maybe I would have a chance of actually finishing them before the cold weather is over.  The best bet would probably be the Autumn Warmth sweater as it is a fairly straighforward, simple piece.  I will definitely be thinking about this one!

Juanita's Scarf

 I am currently experimenting with needle sizes for the next project about to appear on my WIP list.  I want to knit a scarf for Rich's mom, Juanita.  She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met, an opinion shared by just about everyone that has ever met her.  She has pretty red hair, so I thought that this green color combination would look good on her.  The yarns are Bernat Disco in Jungle Jive and Lion Brand Suede in Sage.  I will be starting this scarf soon.  The Night Life scarf is just about done.  All that remains to do is add the fringe.  And the Blues Striped Scarf is in the final few inches.  As soon as these 2 scarves moved to the Finished Projects list, Juanita's scarf will go on the WIP. 

Lion Brand Yarns has recently added some really nice new free knitting patterns on their website.  And I have also recently discovered the show "Knitty Gritty" on the DIY network.  There are also some nice patterns there, too.  I am also thinking about trying the free "Potato Chip Scarf" pattern that is on the Knit Pick's website.  It looks interesting, and recently there have been a lot of people on the Knitting Scarves Yahoo group that have been talking about this scarf.  Seems that everyone that knits one can't stop at just one - hence the name!  I like the idea of knitting each row in a different color to create a colorful spiral, making this scarf the perfect use for all of those leftover odds and ends of yarn.  One of these will probably be added to the WIP list before too long!  I may make one of these for Megan instead of a skinny scarf if it turns out cute enough.

 

Already in Progress..........

Here are a couple of my projects in progress.  The first is a scarf made from the Lion Brand Fun Fur Stripes yarn.  From the moment I saw this yarn in the store, I thought "how fun!"  I had to try it.  I knit on this scarf at work at lunchtime, and everyone always oohs and ahhhhhhs over the stripes as they appear.  It really is fun to knit with.  I am going to use it in several colors to knit some chemo caps.  The only drawback to this yarn is the short yardage - only 57 yards per skein - so I am sure that it will take more than one ball to knit a chemo cap.  Oh well, I am sure I can combine the leftovers from the second ball with some other leftovers to make an even more interestingly striped chemo cap!  Like last year, I will post the chemo cap pictures before I take them to Lynchburg Hematology Oncology in October. 

The second picture is of the shawl I am making out of Berrocco Suede.  It is somewhat bigger than this picture by now, but it is still moving a bit more slowly than the other projects due to the size (it is awfully hot here to have too much yarn in your lap!!!)  I took the India Sunset Scarf to work yesterday, and I thought I would never get it back from Cathyanne, the lab secretary!  She took off down the hall wearing it, and I thought I had seen the end of it forever!  She finally did give it back, but she told me this morning that she thought about that scarf all night long last night.  Then she asked me if we were going to play Pollyanna at Christmas again this year.  (HINT, HINT?????) 

Back to Work.........

Today is my last day of vacation.  Tomorrow it is back to work.  I start out with a 12 hour day.  Ewwwwwwww.  Luckily, my 12 hour days are numbered.  Before vacation, I requested to go back to regular dayshift, so starting in August, I will only be working 8 hour days.  Thank goodness.  I am looking forward to that!

I finished the India Sunset Scarf yesterday morning!  Since I bought the yarn on a trip taken during vacation, I wanted to have the whole scarf done before vacation was over.  That way it is a true "start to finish" vacation memory!  AOL help was able to help me fix the problem with You Got Pictures, so I have added a picture of the India Sunset Scarf that I took last week.  I will take a picture of the finished scarf and post that plus the other pictures I mentioned last entry later on. 

Summertime Knitting

At the moment, I am enjoying a much needed vacation from work.  I took last week and this week off, and I have been taking several daytrips around Virginia.  During one of those daytrips, I went to this little knitting store in downtown historic Charlottesville called The Needle Lady.  There was so much gorgeous yarn there!  I happened to spot this one particular yarn called India by Lana Grossa in an absolutely gorgeous color!  The color number is 9, and it is a breathtaking combination of reds and oranges.  It reminds me of a sunset.  I am trying to add pictures to this entry, but apparently AOL's "You Have Pictures" is having issues!  I will get the pictures added as soon as it will let me. 

I have several projects on needles at this time.  For me, this is the beginning of the busiest knitting season.  I am not a fan of the hot and humid summer conditions here, so when the weather is too miserable to be outside, I like to start knitting for the fall and winter in the cool and comfortable air conditioning.  I do the least knitting in the spring and early summer when the weather is so gorgeous that I just can't stand to be inside.  But for right now, and for the next 2 months or so, my knitting needles will be busy!  I am still knitting chemo caps, and I have started several new scarves.  I want to knit my niece Megan a belt and a super skinny scarf, but I have not found exactly the right yarn that I want yet.  The search continues!  I will add the pictures of all the new yarns and projects as soon as I can get them on here. 

I also took that other Bob Ross painting class and will add that picture to the album, also.  We painted a beautiful waterfall scene.  I am giving this painting away as a birthday present for a dear friend.  More on that later.