I am getting ready for Vogue Knitting Live!! I am so excited about this event. I signed up for it right away this year instead of dragging my feet. Last year I signed up late and the classes were practically full already. I ended up taking a class that wasn’t really worth it for me. This year I immediately signed up for a class on designing your own shawl.

Here is a picture of everything I will be bringing.

In the back is a shawl I made and designed called Guardian of Air because you can’t go to VKL and not show off a little! I am also bringing a project that I just cast on which is over on the left. It is a shawl designed by @Romi called Kleio. I am sure there will be time for knitting so I must bring that.

In the center  are  yarn and pattern ideas for the Shawl design class I a taking.  I am bringing Spirit Trail Fiberworks‘ Penelope yarn in the color Connemara. along with a swatch. This yarn is really beautiful and soft! I got this for Christmas from my sister Kim.

On the right is the pattern for another shawl designed by @Romi called Maia. I will be shopping for a yarn to make this with while I am there so I am bringing the picture and the yarn requirements.

Well that’s it. Got to get to bed and get some sleep before the exciting day!

I have some new favorites that I can’t keep my eyes off of! Before I go off on that, let me share what’s on the needles. I have 2 projects in the works now (technically more, but let’s not get into that, ok?). The first one I showed you the other day and that is Marc’s Fisherman sweater. I am ready to start the armholes and just need to wait until I have enough time and quiet to really concentrate on it. Maybe tomorrow when everyone is at work.

I also have the Spectra scarf on the needles which I am loving. It is simple to knit but so interesting in the construction. Brilliant!

I am also excited about my projects that I have yet to begin. I found a shawl designer that I just love! Her name is @Romi and her designs are right up my alley. All the lacy shawls one finds on Ravelry are beautiful and delicate and make that special entrance when we wear them. That is great, but they are starting to all look the same. I am looking for a shawl that says “warm, snuggle, practical, texture, deep, rich, and simple in it’s design”. I found it. I didn’t recently hear of Romi, I have seen and admired her work for a while but it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I was blown away by one of her designs that is even named yet. She is referring to it as “Muse 5” and it will be included in her most recent e-booklette 7 Small Shawls Year 2. This is a book in progress which currently has 2 of the patterns released so far with the rest to follow in the coming months. I went ahead and ordered it because the 2 that are released so far are also absolutely gorgeous! I have found something to use my most precious yarns for.

Speaking of precious yarns I have a new favorite brand of yarn. I love all her yarns and all her colors. It is Spirit Trail Fiberworks and her yarns are simply to die for. I like them better than Artyarns which says a lot! I have a nice amount of Spirit Trail yarns in my stash too and I plan on using it for Romi’s shawls and I alsoto design my own shawl as one of my Gaian Tarot inspired designs.
Here are some pictures of my WIP and the beautiful Spirit Trail yarns that I currently have.

I have been working on Marc’s sweater now that the holiday knitting is done (I’ll get into that next post, but I am really happy with it!). I am almost ready for armholes and considering that this is not blocked, I think my measurements are pretty spot on. What I am worried about really is the arm hole shaping and knitting the actual sleeves. Marc would like Set in sleeves with a Saddle which I am a little nervous about. Gosh I hope it works! So I am off now. Marc and i are going for a walk by the river. It is rare we ever have a day off together. Then we will hang at the Peekskill Coffee House where I will read up on the shaping in Aran Sweater Design by Janet Szabo and make plans for Marc’s sleeves!

Remember this project?

I started it quite a few years ago for myself but it got stowed away in the closet unfinished due to promises to other people. Well I decided to bring it back out for a change of pace.

It is the Luskentyre Cardigan by Alice Starmore my most favoritest designer ever. Her work is pure art from her yarn line Virtual Yarns. Her colors are taken from her natural surroundings and have names such as Driftwood, GOlden Plover and WIld Orchid. Limpet is one of my favorites. Such a beautiful Deep purple color

My first cable project has a sad ending I’m afraid. My Grandma taught me how to knit when I was little. For the most part I did very simple projects and whenever something went wrong I always went to Grandma and she would fix it for me. So, when I finally graduated college and had more time on my hands I decided to begin a project that I had always dreamed of and that was an Aran knit sweater. I went to the LYS and spent a pretty penny on some yarn and as usual, Grandma cast on for me (yes, I couldn’t even cast on myself). I had completed most of the pieces and with some mistakes that Grandma would fix for me. Sadly before I could finish, Grandma passed away. I kept knitting but for some reason I felt I couldn’t do it without Grandma’s help. I didn’t know how to finish it or do the hood. I put it away and every so often would take out the unfinished sweater and think of Grandma. The sweater got lost one year during a move (and the pattern with it) and it makes me so sad. I really would have liked to finish it to make Grandma proud.

I have since come a long way with my knitting and become very self sufficient in fixing and finishing projects, but every time I work on a project with cables, I always start to miss my Grandma.

I had such a great time at the shearing event that the Hudson Valley Fiber Farm put on today! They had an open house at their beautiful farm located about 40 minutes from my home. I noticed while walking up the street lined with parked cars, licensees from Conn., Mass, and even Virginia! People were there from all over. It was really neat to see how the shearer handled the sheep. This can not be an easy job! And those sheep held in all sorts of contorted positions! How hilarious! It was great to watch! 

They had a pot luck lunch as well and asked people to bring a dish. Let me inform you  that I am not a good cook! My husband who is a professional chef does all the cooking in our house. I asked him for some ideas last night of what I could bring and he said, “Honey, if you are going there to make friends maybe you better not cook” LOL! He’s right! But, with his help and guidance, we put together a chicken curry salad that was quite delicious! It seemed to be a big hit, so I was very pleased.

After watching a few of the shearing, I wandered around the beautiful property. It reminds me of upstate where my sister and parents live. There are streams and a pond, chickens running around, a bridge over the running water, beautiful lilac tree and just a serene, relaxing setting.

Perfect for knitting! I worked a lot on my Luskentyre. I was also very flattered to be interviewed by Cat and Eric from Lets Knit 2gether. They were there covering this event and Cat came over and complimented me on my work. It was very nice to meet both of them. I love their video podcasts and admire all the work they do to bring this to the knitting community so when they asked if they could put me on their show, I was honored. 

My daughter came with me and was a trooper. Even though it was not her scene, she stayed and didn’t complain. She did take a little nappy in her chair though….

All in all what a great day! A big thank you to Susan and Pat for opening their home to everyone. It was really wonderful! I end it with the most deliciously cute cupcakes I have ever seen

I really wanted to stay home and knit all day. It has been a while since I just relaxed and knit. Problem was it was so beautiful out, that I would be a fool to stay indoors. So, my daughter and I went hiking. I live in the Hudson Valley in NY and there are some great hiking trails. The mountain we went up today is called Anthony’s Nose. The view from the top is breathtaking

 

The view from Anthony's Nose

and there are some great rocks to sit on and knit

 

Knitting on Anthony's Nose

My Knit Picks magnetic chart holder was indispensable on the windy mountaintop! I love this tool

 

Knit Picks magnetic board 4 thumbs up!

 

 

And here is what my daughter did when we got to the top

 

Rachael texting

 

 

It was a great day all around, but I am very tired now. I took some great shots of my Luskentyre in the sunlight and some of the Alice Starmore yarns I carried up in my back pack also looked so beautiful in the sunlight I just have to share them here.

 

Luskentyre

 

Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach just glowed!

 

Clover

Clover is definitely a favorite. Just gorgeous!

 

Spindrift

Spindrift has an understated elegance to it. A perfect backdrop.

 

Limpet

The Limpet showed the most dramatic change in the sunlight. This color would be great for any of Alice’s solid color sweaters.

Here is my daughter and I. I told her I wanted to take one of those facebook pictures that I see on her page all the time. Instead I got this “Mom you are so weird” look. Sigh…..

 

Mom, you are so weird. Can't we just keep hiking???

Something very special….

If you read the ‘About Me’ you know that my Grandma was the beginning of my love for knitting. She taught me the basics and helped me with my earliest projects. Many of the gifts she knit for the family are gone now, but my Mom came over the other night with something she found in her attic. It was a sweater that Grandma had knit. It has some holes in it and is somewhat rotted so I won’t be able to keep it, but I took some pictures for memories sake. I touched some of the stitches and smiled thinking they were most likely made in front of a Mets game, or maybe at my Mom’s kitchen table during a visit.  So without further adu…. Here is one of Grandma’s sweaters. 

 

Grandma's Sweater

Note the signature TLC label! 

 

Made With TLC

and here is the infamous Grandma Quintal most likely listening to a baseball game on the radio

 

Grandma Quintal

I know I haven’t been blogging in a while, but I assure you I have been knitting. Knitting the Luskentyre pretty much exclusively. It is looking so nice. I haven’t posted for a while because I wanted to have a substantial amount of progress to show you and because I can’t find my camera! So, I am posting a pic taken with my iPhone. It is the best shot I can get for now, but you can see how it is coming a long at least.

 

Luskentyre

I am so in love with these colors and the feel of this wool. In the future I will be ordering her wool instead of Jamieson’s as long as the exchange rate stays down. It is much less expensive but just as impressive.

I also wanted to show you the finished Baby Kimono. My MIL sewed the buttons on for me because I really can’t sew and underneath the buttons we put snaps instead of ribbons. I had been holding off giving it to them so I could get a pic, but couldn’t wait any more so I took a pic with my iPhone. I also took it at work so the lighting is all yellow. Sorry! DJ (the Daddy) promises to take some pictures of Trishden (the Baby) wearing it for me and I will share them here.

 

Baby Kimono sideways

 

 

Don’t you just love the cute little Teddybear buttons!

I have only been working on this a couple of days so there is not much to look at yet, but I just can’t help putting up a picture of my Luskentyre progress. I love the yarn and the pattern is just starting to show itself. The rich colors are a dream to look at.

 

Luskentyre

I also want to share with you some great tips from the Rainey Sisters Blog about counting rows and increases. Very good ideas and easy peasy!  She uses waste yarn as a row counter and puts markers where the sleeve increases start so you can easily track you increases.  I love following this blog just to see the beautiful work these 2 sisters do. You should check it out for yourself.