Talk about in like a lion....

First off, here is my Birkin, all finished.

I knitted an XL yoke and a L body.

I picked up a very old (from July 2014) UFO next, the Rams and Yowes blanket by Kate Davies.

I have doubts that this will come out ok.  The garter stitch border is definitely larger than the color work part.  Sigh.  I plan to try blocking it before knitting the i-cord bind off around the edge, to make sure it's not a waste of time to do so.  Not sure what I will do if the border continues to be too big for the center panel.

So yes, March did its proverbial thing and came in like lion -- more than a lion.  There were 4 nor'easters in the space of 4 weeks?  Something like that.  The first one, Riley, knocked our power out -- tons of trees down, which knocked down the power lines in the area.  We were out of power from March 2, through March 8 (6 days), when our power finally came on in the evening.  Yes, we were without power for the second nor'easter, Quinn.  Thank goodness Quinn wasn't as bad as they called for.  And thank goodness for generators!  It would have been tough to survive the cold without our generator and hookup to the house that we had installed after Hurricane Sandy.  We learned our lesson after Hurricanes Irene (no power for a week) and Sandy (no power for 9 days) -- get that  generator and generator hook up, cause our electric company leaves us for last when it comes to restoring our power.  Not fun.

I'm hoping that spring is finally here and that March leaves like a lamb and April just brings spring showers.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of all my color work garments (not including accessories or blankets).

Starting from my Birkin sweater and going clockwise, we have the Birkin by Boyland Knitworks, the Stopover by MJ Mucklestone, the Cruden vest by Ysolda Teague, the Ninilchik Swoncho by Boyland Knitworks, the Wave cardigan by Toshiyuki Shimada, Miss Rachel's Yoke by Kate Davies, Second Grace by Bristol Ivy, and Firebirds by Alice Starmore.

Happy Passover, and Happy Easter too!

Happy 24

How can time pass so quickly?

But these pictures show it to be true.

We've watched you grow into a wonderful young man.

And we're so proud of you for who you are.  Happy 24th birthday!  Love you!

Quick post

Once again it is the last day of the month and I haven't posted yet.  I'm trying to post at least once a month, so here's a quickie.  Here's the project I've been working on, in its various stages of development, the Birkin sweater by Boyland Knitworks.

I'm going backwards in time here -- the first picture is about where it's at now.

I heard about issues with the fit of the yoke area on Birkin from various sources, so I'm knitting an XL yoke and a L body and sleeves.  Someone else on Ravelry did that and it worked for them, so fingers crossed.  This yoke has lots of 3 color color work, which is not my favorite.  The majority of patterns only have 2 colors per row, not three (although there are styles of color work that go for 3 colors per row at times).  I'm looking forward to blocking this one out so the color work looks better.

Not much else to report around here.  We are an empty nest again -- I can't remember if I mentioned that here.  The boy child moved up to Buffalo last fall to stretch his wings and be on his own.  He's doing well, as is the girl child, who is still in NYC living the life.

Mia is, of course, Mia.

She decided it was too warm for her winter bed and proceeded to get into my knitting basket instead one day.  Luckily she only got a few stitches off the needles and unrolled a bit of yarn, nothing else.  I dug out a different basket and it's been her favorite sleeping spot since.  Silly girl!

Can't wait for spring!  Hope all of you experiencing the Beast from the East are surviving well.

ETA:  Finished the body!  On to the sleeves!

This keeps happening....

OK, how did it get to be the end of January?  Didn't 2018 just start?  Sigh.  Anyway, I thought I'd pop in with an update before the calendar turned.  Here are my two projects.

My Void Shawl is basically finished.  I just need to weave in the ends and block it.  My Ninilchik Swoncho is still in progress.   It's a fun if somewhat challenging knit -- challenging only because of the yarn I'm using.  Which I do love, but it's not great for color work.  In both cases, I am using Woolfolk yarn, which is totally soft and squishable (Woolfolk Far for Void, Woolfolk Tov DK for the swoncho).  But like I said, not easy to use in color work compared to sticky yarns.  (I should say, it's fine for color work once you get used to it.  Just took some adjustment time.)   Can't wait to finish up my swoncho!

I did finish the Bousta Beanie by Gudrun Johnston.  It was a fun knit, and a good way to use up a few leftovers.

I attended Vogue Knitting Live in NYC this month, which was fun.  The Ninilchik Swoncho I'm knitting was a kit from Adirondack Yarns.  They had a gorgeous model of the swoncho there, and I fell hard for it.  The Woolfolk Tov DK makes a soft, wonderful swoncho!  I hope mine comes out as well as the model. 

Anyway, here are a few pictures -- I took many pics of gorgeous sweaters!  The first pic is the swoncho model.

Mia, of course, is happiest when her routine is uninterrupted.  Silly cat.

And of course I have to mention Roger Federer and his 20th slam victory at the Australian Open.  He will always hold a place in my tennis loving heart.

I hope everyone has been having a good start to 2018!

Last post for 2017

I thought I'd get a post done before the year is over.  I can't believe 2017 is almost over!!

So I am still working on the Wave Cardigan.  I have finally steeked the front of the cardigan and picked up stitches for the neckband.  This pic shows the two sleeves all finished.  Yay!

Both kids were home for Christmas, which is wonderful.  We had a nice time, and we had a white Christmas too!

And finally, a quick year in review.  Here are my finished pieces for 2017. 

Firebirds by Alice Starmore.

Second Grace by Bristol Ivy.

Miss Rachel's Yoke by Kate Davies.

Ilia by Michele Wang.

Tale as Old as Time cowl by Anne Vally.

And the whopper, the Fair Isle Club II blanket by Marie Wallin.

I often wonder if I will get back to stitching or quilting.  We shall see!  I do worry that my eyesight won't hold up to stitching anymore...

Mia was not best pleased about Christmas.  She never is.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and a better 2018.  Happy New Year!

This keeps happening....

How did it get to be almost December?  Yikes!  Well, here I am again, almost at the end of the month.  I have a new project on the needles, the Wave Cardigan, from the Knit Real Shetland book from Jamieson and Smith.  I'm using a kit I bought from J&S.

I'm a bit farther along than that last picture shows.  The first picture is a just because, cause the colors are so pretty.  :)  I have the sleeve steek stitches in and am chugging along on the body of the sweater.

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving in the US.  We were lucky enough to have both kids come home for the weekend.  It was wonderful!

On Saturday, we took advantage of both kids being home, and went off to cut down a Christmas tree for the first time in years.

It was a lovely day.  And we found a new kind of fir that we really like -- a Canaan Fir.  We've never gotten a tree so early.  I hope it lasts for Christmas.  It smells heavenly!

Mia was a bit disgruntled by the extra people in the house.  She's sleeping it off now.  Silly cat.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!