Break

Today marks the first full day of Spring Break around here. Yesterday my boys had a half day, and today the are home with me. I always feel like Spring Break comes at just the right moment. Just when school, and activities, and work all start to pile up and risk tipping over, we get a little time to pause and just enjoy each other. The last two years we have traveled over their break and this year I'm looking forward to a good old fashioned "staycation". Tonight I'm kicking things off with a girls night out at Whimsy with my mom, my sister in law and her mom. Art is good for the soul, and I'm sure it will be a great night!

I should have time to knit through the weekend, especially when the boys are at their dads (although some of that time will be spent figuring out where the heck I put the plastic eggs two easters ago... hmm)

We're heading to the mountains for a couple of days and if my husband is willing to do some of the driving, I should be able to get to some knitting in the car. Then, we're just home for a bunch of days in a row. I'm working two mornings, and taking the rest of the time off. My main focus this week is my Jenica. I've got most of the yoke done and its a really fun, really fast knit so far.

Proof

My attempts at getting pictures of myself in the Opposite Pole last night were pretty laughable... I got some great over the shoulder pictures of my bathroom door, but not much else. So, until my husband is home to man the camera, I'll have to make do with this one

I did manage to get a decent picture of the front of the Eadon that I cast on

And last but far from least is my Jenica. Here are some swatch pictures. I have been "petting" my swatch all day long today

I managed to finish the 7.5 inch section of the veritcal braid, plus 3 cable repeats of the Right Yoke. I love it, and its a very fun knit so far!

The bottom picture is much more true to the color, but I love how the top picture shows how much variation there is in this yarn.

Success!

The Opposite Pole is ready to be worn tomorrow, the front of the Eadon is ready for knitting at all the places I have to wait for the boys this week and the Jenica is started (and lovely!)

Progress

Today was the snow day that never quite materialized a couple of weeks ago. We really need the moisture and I really needed the restful day. Last night I finished and bound off the back of my Eadon and cast on the right side. I did one repeat of the cable pattern and since its so easy to memorize, it has re established itself as my purse knitting. I'm really pleased with how much I got done.
On my Opposite Pole, I finished one sleeve and cast on the other. I had finished the sleeve cap plus about 4 inches when I realized it was upside down. Bad idea to pick up stitches on a symmetrical piece after midnight!!
I frogged it and started over and have passed the point where I was so I'm feeling good about finishing it this weekend

I spent some time organizing my stash this morning and all that lovely yarn I've bought in the past month or two is calling to me!


The cat enabled at least an extra hour of knitting by setting up camp on my lap

Best Laid Plans

After a truly crazy week at work I have a little time to myself in the immediate future. Tonight I've got nothing but wine, yarn and the DVR on my agenda. Tomorrow, it looks like snow (please!) which means no 2 hour round trip to the first 4th grade baseball game of the season. So I'm hoping to accomplish alot!

First -- only one and a half sleeves to go on my Opposite Pole. I'm completely infatuated with it and cant' wait to wear it, so hopefully I'll finish tonight.

Second -- I'm rows away from the end of the back on my Eadon. I want to finish that piece and cast on one of the fronts so I can establish the cables, and it can go back to being my purse knitting. I was nearly caught without something to knit at book club the other night!

Third -- All that lovely madelinetosh yarn is calling to me. I think for now the winner is the chunky, which is destined to become a Jenica.

Wish me luck!

Then this happened

Love. Madelinetosh Feather in Coquette.

It's all I can do to keep myself from casting on right now. Showing great restraint because I really do want to finish Opposite Pole this week, and I'm finally working some shaping on the back of my Eadon. Look at this color though! Hard to resist...

Snow Day

There is a blizzard warning in Colorado today, so I'm spending my Saturday inside. It's a rare thing for me to have an entire Saturday to myself. My boys spend Saturdays with their dad, but usually those days are still filled with one sport or activity or another. My husband is away this weekend too, which leaves just me and the cats and all the yarn. Including these new lovelies which came this week

Tosh Lace in Moss, which I'm nearly decided will be a Breezy cardigan by Hannah Fettig. I knit this before and made some bad judgement calls (no decreases in the sleeves, what was I thinking?!?) that I'd like a do over on.

Last night the Tosh Mo Light I ordered from madelinetosh.com arrived. I'm pretty certain this is a new base,and its lovely. The color is Windowpane. I saw this colorway in Tosh Merino Light at Fancy Tiger Crafts about a month ago, and under the guise of "restraint" I didn't buy it. Instead I've been obsessing about it for weeks. When I saw this on the website I decided to just go for it. This is definitely a first foray into luxury yarn for me, but I don't know that there is any turning back! My plan for this yarn is an Austin Hoodie

My Opposite Pole is really proceeding nicely, I'm very happy with it.Slow going last night because I made a couple of mistakes on the cables, but I was brave and worked back just those sections to fix them. I've never tried that with cables before, though I've found myself doing it a lot on Eadon when I make a mistake because I'm not paying enough attention during ALL THAT RIBBING.

Welcome!

Hi and welcome! I'm Becky, and I've been thinking and planning and meaning to start this blog for a while. I'm a working mom of two and knitting is my passion. I've been knitting and crocheting for about 7 years, and this blog is part of my effort to take my knitting to the next level. I am really focused on learning new techniques, exploring new yarns, and my goal for 2013 is to design my first sweater. I'm looking forward to documenting that journey.

Right now I have way too many things on my needles, as usual. The project I'm working on the most is my Opposite Pole by Joji Locatelli. I'm really really enjoying this knit. I love the interesting construction. I'm knitting it in some Knit Picks Organic Cotton that I had bought for another project and decided didn't quite work. I was originally a little worried about knitting this in cotton, but the cables look great and the yarn is very crisp.

My HOPE is to be able to wear this when my husband and I go to the Nuggets game next Wednesday night, but I'm not sure how realistic that is! A Friday night at home and a snowy Saturday may really help!

I'm a huge fan of all things Joji, so next on my needles once this is finished is Jenica . I've got some absolutely gorgeous Madelinetosh Chunky (in Windowpane) ready and waiting for that one

Another project I'm working on as my "purse knitting" is Eadon . I want to wear this to a work event in April. Four days in air conditioned conference rooms means I need some cozy options, and I think this will make the perfect layer. I'm about 19 inches into the back and I am anxious to finish it and move onto the more interesting knitting of the fronts and sleeves. The miles of ribbing is great while watching the kids at their activities, but I'm ready for something more engaging for sure.

Also on my needles at the moment is the February Lady Sweater in Chromo Worsted from Knit Picks

 I like this one a lot, but with so many other fun things to knit it hasn't been at the top of my list lately.

I had also cast on a Stranger Cardigan. This is another one with really interesting construction. As my son heads into baseball season there is a lot of sitting and knitting time in my schedule, so I want to get the cabled panels finished so I can have it as my bring along knitting, for all that stockinette!

This week I ordered some Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Moss, I'm trying to decide between Breezy and Current. I've knit both before. I feel like I made some bad judgement calls on my first Breezy, and may take advantage of the do over :) but my Current is one of my absolute favorite FOs, so we'll see!

I also ordered some Madelinetosh Tosh MoLight in Windowpane (I'm absolutely obsessed with the color) for an Austin Hoodie

My mom is turning 60, so I decided to knit her a Lemongrass. I have some Malabrigo Twist in Damask that I think is going to be perfect.

This one is going to be my trip knitting for my work trip in April. I knit myself one this winter and LOVED how fast it knits up. This is another FO that I wear at least once a week

I'm also considering some Madelinetosh Feather for a  Boxy. The color I like is Coquette. I think its gorgeous!

Well, that was a long winded first post! Thanks for reading :)