On Saturday I made the trek down to the elevation of 5280 to visit my fellow Klaralund-alongers at a fun, hip Knit Cafe in Denver called La Ti Da.  I walked up to the porch, and there were about 20 knitters hanging out and knitting!  One of the tables waved me down, and I got a coffee and we had a fun time Klaralunding.  True to the kickoff date, most of the ladies hadn't yet started ... I, on the other hand, was just finishing my first "swatch," to put it in Wendy's terms. 

Here's a few picts of the Klaralunders, many of whom are also bloggers:



Here, we have Michelle (at the time, a non-Klaralunder, but she has since joined the bandwagon), Joanne, and Harriet. 

And may I present the lovely Karlsro to you, knit in Noro Silk Garden, color #82 which I call "crimson reds, pinks" but it also carries a little green. 




I loved this project!  An easy two-row lace pattern, on size 10s, started at one sleeve and cast off on the end of the other sleeve (with a few cast-ons and bind-offs in between of course).  Not the easiest to pick up the stitches for the cute little edging, but that's okay.

The only drawbacks that I detect so far are: 1) no pockets; 2) not an easy take-on and -off kind of a cardigan.  That's okay!  That's why it's called a wrap -- you wrap yourself in it and leave it. 

Highly recommended.


On to other news ... continuing on to my next Noro -addict creation:

KLARALUND in Silk Garden #74 ...




One sleeve (almost) finished, on size 9 bamboos.  LOVE THIS PATTERN!  I can't get my head around what an incredibly simple pattern this is, and how it looks so sophisticated!  I want to make a Klaralund-stashbuster, with every worsted weight scrap that I own. 

And ... Why didn't I do the st st part of this on circs?  MAYBE NEXT TIME.



And last, but not least, that cute little acrylic baby raglan sweater ... just needs to be sewn up, and he'll be set to give away. 





So, how can you tell that I'm an ADHD knitter?

I started another little kid sweater from my Baby Knits book.  Here it is:



Sorry for the crummy photo. 


I just realized that I have yet to blog about my master knitting program ... I'll have to do that later!
 
Happy knitting wherever you are --  and for some odd reason, if you're not a knitter but you're reading this blog, happy *** to you (fill in the blank)!

As I've stated, I'm addicted to Noro ... so much so that I've become a yarn-pusher.  Sorry if you're the recipient of my yarn pushing, I just can't help sharing the high with like minded people. 

Anyhow, here's more proof -- the Knot Cable Cardigan from DEBBIE BLISS NORO #2, overall an excellent pattern book.  Here's one sleeve, with another sleeve, in Noro Kureyon #40.




I really don't intend to finish this until about Thanksgiving, as it will be Very Warm, even for Colorado.

In other news:

While my kids were sick, and my mother (thank goodness) swooped in to pick them up for the day, I felt so nauseous laying down that I had to sit up the whole darn day resting.  What better activity to keep you still (and yet sitting) while resting than knitting?, I say.  Here's the beginnings of a little baby raglan sweater, made in -- gasp! -- Caron Simply Soft.  Yes, I do heed the call of cheapo, easy-care acrylic when it calls to me.  I actually like Simply Soft, as it is also a no dyelot yarn, which means it can hang out in my stash forever, until I decide to knit something like this.  Here it is:




And why are my photos so yellow?? Note to self: FIGURE THIS OUT! 

And here's my first blogging BOOK REVIEW ...

TITLE:  Baby Knits, The Ultimate Collection of Knitwear Designs for Newborns to 3-Year Olds.

Klaralund update:

I'm deciding on what color to choose, and here are my choices:

#88 -- Sable greys, browns, a little purple and red thrown in

#73 -- DISCONTINUED, Light blues grays and greens, or

#37 -- Medium Pinks greens and blues





Here's what I think:

#88 is great for Fall colors, but I don't think that this sweater is as fall-y as it is spring-y.  Thus, I'm looking for cheery colors.

#37 is a little bit too bright for my tastes.

#74 is discontinued, so THIS IS MY ONLY CHANCE to knit with it;  and being sort of gray-ish and white-ish, it will look good with a gray or white or blue shirt under it.  (A consideration!)

LOOKS LIKE #74 wins!

Here's a photo of the same color of Silk Garden in another project:



This is the Knot Cable Jacket from Debbie Bliss Noro Two. 

What? Does this seem familiar, you say?



YES! Because  --


I'm using Kureyon #40 for this sweater.  I'm calling it my "winter cardigan," and it's slated for completion by Thanksgiving.  One sleeve done, the other is started.  Photos forthcoming, as soon as I can locate the digital camera.  [Note to self ... had it with me at the zoo last week ... where the heck is it?!]


What is life without an addiction of some sort? 

My Karlsro is coming along.  I'm using Noro Silk Garden #84, which I call "crimson reds", and it is just so pretty.  I laid it out on the bed, came back for a photo -- oh! and who is this?




It's of course Chloe, who I maybe haven't quite introduced very well yet.  Chloe and Rini are my two calico cats that I adopted while I was in grad school at CSU in Ft Collins, CO.  Chloe has a French name, because she speaks French, and Rini has a Spanish name (Katarina, actually), because she speaks Spanish.  Or rather, I speak those languages to each of them.  Hey, I have to practice, don't I?

Anyhow, Chloe is the one that we lovingly call "La buena," or the good one.  She hangs out, she loves us, and she only puts on the minor whiny meow for wet food (her personal favorite).  On my Karlsro, she's saying, "Why did you wake me up?  Is it time for wet food?"






Rini, on the other hand, is the one that we lovingly call "La mala," or the bad one.  I say lovingly, and I actually mean that I call her that lovingly ... she and my husband don't really get along very well.  She's never forgiven him for moving into our house (oh, about 7 years ago), and she has a rather spiteful personality.  She and Chloe are sisters, and look surprisingly alike.  Many of my friends are surprised when they finally see the two of them in the same room, as they tend to think that I have only one cat.  She hangs out in dark corners, and runs from everyone but me.  She's rather hard to take pictures of.  To prove this, I went to find her, and this was the result of my efforts -- out of about 15 shots I tried to get. 




Back to Chloe... I am making a little bed for her out of double strands of "tweedy" Wool-Ease, so that she can learn to sleep with my son on his bed.  I'm going to sneak some catnip into the bed to entice her.  Conor loves Chloe, and I even caught him singing a lullaby to her the other day, which he says was "her favorite song."  Ahhh, how sweet!

She's not crazy about her half-made kitty bed yet.

As you know, I'm a self-confessed Noro addict.  I currently have two Noro sweaters in the works ...

1) my Karlsro, in Silk Garden #84, which I call "Crimson Reds," and is really reds/ rusts/ pinks/ a little green.  What a great color scheme!  I just love these colors so much!  Photo to come, with more commentary on ERRATA that I believe I found (or else I just screwed something up and had to fix my own mistake) ... tomorrow!  I MUST finish this by the end of Sept, and where there's a will there's a way.

2) my Debbie Bliss Cable Knot Cardigan Sweater ... hmmm I don't think I have talked about this yet, so I'll be off to my stash drawer later to take photos.  It's in Kureyon (not Silk Garden), color #40, which I believed I call "Bright blues / greens".  I have one sleeve completed, and working on the other.  My goal: Finish this by Thanksgiving, as it is such a cold weather sweater ... I can't wear this in Colorado in September, after all! 

[Location note for those who aren't familiar with Colorado:  People often think that Colorado is cold, snowy, and mountainous ... well, it is in the mountains, but not in the metro area where it certainly snows, but we also get warm weather.  I remember wearing shorts to my Dec. finals one year at the U of Colorado - Boulder, when it was almost 80 degrees!]

So ... why am I an addict?

I've signed up for Klaralund -- here's the photo:

Resistance is futile.  I had some Mission Falls 1824, two colors of this peachy tan and one of sage green, in my stash drawer, intended for a summery floppy hat.  Once I saw Fiona, I knew I'd end up making this instead ... so here's a project from July, my Fiona bag, in which I learned to cast-off using I-cord (love new skills!). 



I decided to make a backpack out of my Fiona bag, instead of the little purse.  I still haven't added the cell phone pocket ... we'll see if I decide to do that or not.  Here's the backpack view: 



I also love this little bag because we almost named my son Conor the name Fiona, had he been a girl.  What a perfect Fiona he would've made, with red hair and a fiery personality!! 


Speaking of my son, Conor, whenever I knit, he says to me:  Is that for me?  Well, there's only so much you can knit for a 4-yr-old boy, and so when I saw the frontier hat, a coonskin-style topper, I had to make it for him.  I'll have to check the yarn I used, I think it was GGH something.  I started and finished this hat during a one-week visit to Texas.  I bought the yarn at Yarn Heaven in Arlington, near my relative's house.  What fun to knit a Davey Crocket-style hat while in Texas.  My Aunt P said to me, "But can't you just buy one at a souvenir shop for $4?" Well, yeah ... but that's not the point!!  (If you're even reading this blog, then you know what I mean)  

Here it is:



And the back view (modeled here by my 1-yr-old [almost 2!!], Lia) in front of the TV -- gotta love something that will make her sit still!

I joined an afghan-along, called "Afghans for Us", a yahoo! Group in which we all exchange afghan squares.  I've so far enjoyed my correspondences, and am working on my next two to send off ... I'm not going too fast in moving along, but the point isn't really to get them going, but just the exchange.  Anyhow, here's my first two squares that I sent to my first pal LA:



I made an A and an F, for her initials, out of the Baby Knits book by Debbie Bliss.  Fun!

Okay, I'm back with a Thursday update ...


Some FO's to report:

Yay!  I finished my very own Charlotte's Web Shawl ... granted, it's not in Koigu, but rather in stunning but very very chunky NORO IRO (normally 3 st = 1"), but as a first shawl, I'm very pleased.  If I wear it at all, I'll definitely consider making a real Charlotte's Web in Koigu ... but what colors to choose?  Various shades of red? They would look splendid with a black dress in the summer, or maybe to a Christmas (er, holiday) party ... or bright turquoise-like summer colors?  Fall browns and golds?  But I digress. 

Here's a shot of my Iro Shawl:



Here I am wearing my Iro, in two poses (note how clever I was to take a photo over my back ... this required about 10 practice shots before I got it right! [doh!]):





And the glorious Iro Shawl hanging from the towel rod in my bathroom -- note to self: try to find better places to do photos!.