Southern Charm

I hope that everyone is having a fantastic summer so far.  It seems like I fell off the grid for a while and it’s only now that I’m connecting back to my usual routine.  So, where have I been and what have I been upto???

That’s right, vacationing!

Our summer vacation this year was 3 weeks of fun along the Eastern US.  We visited family, saw lots of amazing places, ate some incredible food and even attended a family wedding.  Definitely a wonderful 3 weeks!  Of course, we took, like, a million pictures and I thought I’d share “a few” of my faves on the blog.  Don’t worry, I won’t post everything all at once 😉

With all of the travel time you’d think that I got tons of knitting done.  I have to confess that despite packing many knitting projects, I knit a couple rounds on the flight back home!  I visited one, yes… ONE yarn store the entire trip.  More about that another time!

First up, we went to the South where Vineet’s sister and her husband live with their cute dog.

The Southern charm that is associated with this part of the country… all true!

It was hot and humid and in true Southern style we were downing gallons and gallons of sweet tea the whole time to stay cool and it really worked.

Hangin’ with the local ladies, lol 🙂

Even the architecture in the South is charming!

The perfect way to spend an afternoon… fishing.

We took a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and indulged in some theme park fun along the way.

After all of the stomach-churning, heart-stopping rides, it was time to relax and really enjoy the beauty of the Smokies in our very own cabin.  Well, it was ours for 3 days 😉

I could get used to waking up to this view!

We’re huge Guy Fieri fans, and his recommendation for food at The Beacon didn’t disappoint.  For a drive-in, the chow at this place was amazing!

Satisfied and happy, we got ready to travel northbound.  Next stop, NYC baby!

Posted by & filed under Travel, Vacation. This post has 4 comments.

You Did What?

I totally forgot to share this on the blog.  I’ve had a sewing machine for ages but it sat wrapped up in its packaging because I was terrified of sewing.  A couple months ago, I bought some curtains to spruce up our guest bedroom but they were too long for the windows and needed to be hemmed.  I could have bought the iron-on tape that automatically hems things up, but I decided to be brave and SEW those hems!  Hem those hems??  Still new to sewing lingo;)

I read the manual which made zero sense to me but I was determined to keep going. I’ve seen my mom and grandma sew a lot when I was growing up and so I knew that you had to string the thread over a maze of spots all over the top of the sewing machine.  Oiy!!  Luckily my sewing machine has these “spots” numbered and so with manual in hand, I followed the numbers and voila my thread was secured.

Now it was time to sew.  Not!  I tried to sew a straight line on some scrap fabric and nothing happened.  Just a line of holes on the fabric and a tangle of sewing thread.  Back to the manual I went and when that didn’t help I Googled it, something I should’ve done in the first place because there are videos and illustrations and tons and tons of help for newbies like me!!!!  Turns out I need to fill up a bobbin with thread and that’s what makes the stitches on top of your fabric interlock with the stitches on the bottom and you get a line of stitches not holes 😀

I got those curtains hemmed that day!  I even made a couple chair pad covers and then I decided to take this further and make a project bag for my knitting.

I begin to see that there is a potential for fabric stash joining my yarn stash!  Uh oh, this could be a problem!!

I used this tutorial and I have to say that she explains everything so clearly that not only was it easy to cut the pieces and put them together but it was fun too!

I made this, yee haw!

Posted by & filed under Sewing. This post has 8 comments.

Ranger

Finally, finally the sweater for my oh-so-patient son Prithvi, is done!  It turned out great and he loves it.

Remember how I blogged a while ago that I ran out of yarn while knitting this sweater and had to order more?  The extra skeins that were mailed to me matched perfectly!

The sweater turned so incredibly soft after I washed it and he absolutely loves wearing it.  I wish I’d gotten a bit more ease because when he buttons this cardigan up, it looks a bit snug. But teenagers aren’t into the whole button-down thing anyway, so it worked out fine.

I made a whole bunch of modifications to this pattern and didn’t do a very good job of taking notes.  I mostly knit things to size and changed up the numbers for the various increases and decreases.  The overall design is the same, but the numbers were adapted to my gauge being different and a smaller chest size than what the pattern was written for.

Ranger (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Ranger by Jared Flood published in BT Fall 11
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in “Paris Night”
Needles: Size US 6, 7/4, 5 mm

Posted by & filed under Cardigans, Family, Finished Knits, Kids. This post has 5 comments.

Soay Again

My Soay Cardi c’est fini!  This was my entry to MadMay2012 (Madelinetosh Madness).

I used Tosh Pashmina, my first time knitting with this yarn and it is pure buttah!!  I wanted to use this yarn for a totally different pattern, but as it sat in my yarn bin, my pattern choice changed many times.  I’m glad I finally chose this design because I could customize it.  I love that it is feminine with the bits of lace and the silk content in the yarn makes it so light and luxurious.

I have a bunch of it leftover which is fantastic because I want to knit this little number from Coastal Kids for Kiki and Pashmina would be perfect for it!  Isn’t Wee Wildflower so cute?  So is Little Oak, aww!  I love the whole collection!!

Mods: I lengthened the cardigan slightly (just a tad under 2 inches longer than the original), shortened the sleeves and added the lace motif to the back for fun.

This cardigan works perfectly over a sundress like the first one I knit or over jeans and a tee on cooler spring days.

Soay Again (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Soay by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in “Calligraphy”
Needles: Size US 4, 6/3.5, 4 mm

It’s May 31 and I made the MadMay2012 deadline. Whew!!  Try saying that 3 times fast 😀

Posted by & filed under Cardigans, Finished Knits, KAL, Stashbusting. This post has 6 comments.

Stillness

Just birdsong and thoughts on this walk.

What’s your favorite walk like?  By the beach? In the woods? At the mall? Walking…  ugh?

Posted by & filed under Rambling. This post has 3 comments.

Spring Garden Tee The Second

I knit the Spring Garden Tee as a part of the Tops, Tanks & Tees KAL hosted by Shannon of luvinthemommyhood.  The first one was when I test knit the pattern for Alana way back in 2010.  This time around, I get to keep my SGT 🙂

luvinthemommyhood

I zipped through this one pretty quick and it is the most comfy tee to wear – cool, drapey and soft.

My gauge was spot on with this yarn (this never happens to me!!!) but when I knit my size as stated by the pattern, the tee turned out to be huge.  So, I ripped and restarted a smaller size which turned out exactly the way I wanted :: just the right amount of ease.

However, a few inches after the yoke, I was totally not cool with the color-pooling since I didn’t alternate skeins! le sigh!!  I didn’t want to rip a second time and decided that this pool-of-pink was to be a part of the “handmade charm” and kept on knitting!

Yeah… not sure that was a wise decision!!!

 Of course, the highlight of this pattern is the lacy cap sleeve.

I’m undecided about this yarn  – love the drape, but I’m not a big fan of the color pooling.  I have a skein and a half leftover.  Maybe a summer skirt for Kiki?  This pattern gets a thumbs up from me, like all of Alana’s patterns.

Spring Garden Tee (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Spring Garden Tee – Adult Sizes by Alana Dakos
Yarn: Araucania Ruca Solid in color 120
Needles: Size US 5, 6/3.75, 4 mm

Posted by & filed under Finished Knits, KAL, Tops. This post has 7 comments.

A Postcard

Spring blossoms are so fleeting each year and right now the blooms are long gone.

Well almost….

A few of us signed up for a knitted postcard swap on the Amiras Group and this is the postcard I created for my partner.  I knit the background using different bits of yarn I had leftover from other projects and then embroidered the cherry blossoms and other flowers with french knots using embroidery floss.

I had to rely on YouTube to refresh my memory since I haven’t really embroidered anything since my Home Ec class in school!  It isn’t pictured here, I mounted the finished “postcard” onto card stock so that I could write a message to my partner.

It was a fun project trying to think out of the (knitting) box and my partner says she likes it 🙂  Score!!

Posted by & filed under Finished Knits, Rambling, Stashbusting. This post has 6 comments.

Melting

 When I picked up Kiki from preschool on Monday she said in a small, exhausted voice, “Mama, my skin is melting!”  Sweet child of mine 🙂  With us west coasters waiting with bated breath for La Nina to leave and those groundhog predictions to actually be miscalculations, we finally got our sunshine in all its fierce glory!

Speaking of my sweet children, they made Mother’s Day so special (I’m sure Daddy helped them with their most excellent plans ;))

A fantastical Mom’s Day dinner cooked by my young chefs ending with…

…grilled pineapple, ice cream and maple syrup.  Over the top I know, but oh so scrumptious!

I hope all of you mothers reading had a special Mom’s Day 🙂

Posted by & filed under Family, Food, Kids, Rambling. This post has 6 comments.

Hiyadoin’

Hi!  Hiyadoin’? I’m doing great, thanks for asking 🙂

We were just away at The Emerald City visiting family and while we were there, look at what we stuffed our faces with!

If you’re ever in Seattle, you gotta eat at The Crab Pot.  The mess is definitely worth it!

You should also definitely check out this studio.  We were able to chat with the artist, David Smith, and watch him work on a very interesting piece of glass work.  As a person who embraces the joy of working with my hands, I was fascinated by the whole experience of being able to mould and create something magnificent out of shards of colored glass.  Perfect symmetry between art and science.

Speaking of working with my hands, all that driving time to Seattle and back meant that I had ample knitting time on the road!  Here’s what I’ve been working on.

It’s a Soay cardigan. I test knit this pattern for Gudrun last year and love wearing it so much that I decided to knit it a second time using a different yarn.  I’ve added a bunch of inches since this picture was taken and I might even be done soon!

Posted by & filed under Cardigans, Food, Rambling, Travel, Vacation. This post has 4 comments.

Tops, Tanks & Tees

It’s time to pack away my warm woolies and pull out those fun little tops and swishy skirts and summer dresses because it is spring and I love spring ♥

My knitting is going in the same direction too with the latest project that’s on my needles… the Spring Garden Tee.

I test knit this pattern for Alana a couple years ago and that finished project, knit in Be Sweet Bamboo, was mailed out to be a part of her trunk show.

I’ve been wanting to knit a SGT for myself and a KAL hosted by Shannon of luvinthemommyhood was the perfect excuse to get going.

luvinthemommyhood

I swatched with some recently acquired Araucania Ruca.

The gauge swatch turned out so drapey and soft and the color of this yarn is a *delicious hot pink!

* I apologize if you’ve grabbed your sunglasses to read this post because the colors look completely blown out.  Thing is, my laptop’s on the fritz and I’m using the home computer to write this post and the pictures look completely peptobismolesque to me!!!  I’m such a creature of habit and even though my dead laptop is old and cranky and takes a half hour to fire up, I love her so and the colors aren’t so over-zealous!  New laptop’s on the way, in the meantime, I gotta make this work. 

Happy middle of Spring everyone 🙂

Posted by & filed under KAL, Tops, Yarn. This post has 2 comments.