Finished Object Friday: Mikkey

It's time for another trip in the Wayback Machine to an old finished knitting project!

The final Loopy Academy project for Freshman Year, Semester Two was to create something using slipped stitches.


Mikkey Cowl Ravelry project link

I knit this GIANT, SUPER WARM cowl using three strands of worsted weight yarn held together! Last Winter I used it a few times, but it hasn't been cold enough this Winter to use it! It is REALLY warm, since the slipped stitches mean it's essentially six strands thick, AND it can be worn as two layers.

Since it's a slipped stitch pattern, the "wrong side" is completely different and just as interesting!



I cannot say enough good things about this pattern. The directions were so clear, and there are a TON of pictures throughout (closeups and overall views). You can knit it in whatever weight you want. She even teaches you how to triple-strand yarn as you go, which is brilliant. I've bought two more patterns from this designer since I got this one. The second one I have finished (ah...yeah...still need to take pictures of that) was just as brilliant as this one! Now, that is not to say these patterns aren't complicated...they are. But her directions are so great!

This cowl is also ingenious because most cowls require you to twist them if you want to double them, sometimes resulting in a very uncomfortable bulge behind your neck. Mikkey has a slot-and-strap system that means it is always a two-layer cowl. I made the "medium" option, so you can have it longer, but this picture shows the inner layer as small (i.e., as cozy around your neck!) as it can go, and the outer layer as long as it can go.


And finally, for really windy days....

Finished Object Friday: Litchfield Hat

Ravelry project link

Wow, I actually found a finished object photo that is so old, it's from Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, SEMESTER ONE!! It didn't get posted because I finished it about an hour and a half before the deadline! That's why the picture is so terrible, too. The hat pattern calls for a brim. And though I usually look better in hats with a brim, I did not like the way this brim turned out when I finally knit it, so I'm going to frog it at some point.... The problem is that I love my rose hat so much that I just always wear that....

Finished Object Friday: Poetry Shawl

This week, let's get in the Wayback Machine and visit another project from my Cookie A Sock Club days. We got this lovely burgundy/plum yarn with cashmere in it, and it was so soft and luscious that I decided it needed to be around my neck instead of on my feet. So rather than one of the sock patterns that came with the yarn, I knit a shawlette instead.

Poetry Shawl project on Ravelry

It is actually a rather small shawl, more like a kerchief.

Here's a closeup of the details. It was a lot of fun to knit, but I haven't worn it that much.

That same month in the club, we also got the recipe for these cookies. I can't remember what they were called, but they had a layer of bourbon caramel and a layer of creamy frosting sandwiched between deep, dark chocolate cookies!

I think I need to track down that recipe and make them again!!!

Finished Object Friday: Butterfly Wing

Ravelry project link

My Butterfly Wing shawl was a project for Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester Two. The assignment was to create something with two (or more) color stripes. Of course, simple stripes weren't enough for me, I had to have lace, too. ;)

This was really fun to knit, and the pattern is easy to memorize. I made it longer than the pattern by using her supplementary suggestions on how to extend the shawl. Or, I tried to. I lost count and did a strange combination of the suggested segments, but it all came out fine!

This is one of my favorite things I've knit. I took it with me on our cruise through Norway, and it functioned as a warm expedition scarf, elegant dinner wrap, and casual scarf depending on the day!

Finished Object Friday: Felted Moebius Bowl

Three posts in one week! Don't get used to it. =)

Ravelry project link

This was a project I did for Loopy Academy, Freshman Year, Semester Two. The "assignment" was to create something felted (using 225 yards of yarn). Don't let anyone tell you that front-loading washers don't felt...as I already knew due to an unfortunate scarf incident. It only took me two tries to get the moebius cast-on correct. ;) From there it was a quick and fun knit. The middle of the bowl is a different color because I didn't want to buy extra yarn!!

Finished Object Friday: Pointelle Socks

Let's all get in the Wayback Machine and look at some socks I finished in 2015!

These are Pointelle, by Cookie A (Ravelry project link)

Somewhere in my stash, there is a ball band that would identify this yarn, but I know not where it is! I know it was a Cookie A Sock Club exclusive yarn, and has a delightful high twist that really makes the stitches pop. I decided to knit this pattern rather than whatever patterns came with the yarn.

New Year, Maybe More Blogging?

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Well, looks like I fell off the blogging wagon again.

Work has been soul-crushing; I won't bore you here. I was so looking forward to the holidays, and then three days before Christmas, I came down with the flu. This meant I had to miss Christmas Eve services (my favorite thing all year!) and Christmas day with my family. Fortunately we were all together on New Year's Day, so I at least got a kind of makeup Christmas. :) Michael got it after Christmas (plus bonus bronchial infection!) and it has continued to kick our butts for weeks and weeks.

The good news is that we took our 14-year-old niece/goddaughter to Disney World for the first time ever before I got sick, and she loved it. I won't lie; I was worried...after all, she IS a teenager! But after about 3 hours at the Magic Kingdom, she said, "I think I'd like some ears..." and my heart grew three sizes. ;)

I have not been stitching at all; I signed up for Loopy Academy again, AND decided to make my sister a shawl for Christmas, so it's been all knitting all the time. I do have a lot of finishes to share...it looks like I haven't talked about Loopy Academy since Freshman year, and I just finished the first semester of Junior year!

One stitching finish I had last year that I never blogged about was...the second of Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers!

Named, appropriately, Dancer. =)

At the rate I am going, I will be done with all eight when I am 70 years old.

Of course, I immediately started Prancer.

Aaaaand, I haven't touched it for six months. Prancer's going on a weekend retreat with me, though! Not an "official" retreat, just a very kind friend who has a vacation condo and lets some of us girls come crash every now and then.

JiffNotes
Good thing I never make resolutions or do year-end wrap-up posts...

Big Bad Boisterous Breathtaking Birthday Blog Hop!

No, it's not my birthday, it's Jo at Serendipitous Stitching's birthday!! If you're not familiar with Jo's blog (and WHY AREN'T YOU?? Go fix that right now!), she hosts the most fabulous Blog Hop parties throughout the year. So what better way to celebrate her birthday than with a blog hop??!?

We who are hosting hop stops were assigned a year from Jo's life, and she shared with us a piece of her Life Story. I was assigned

1980!!

Ah, the 80s, when my hair looked like this:

No, that's not really me...

Well, actually, it was much later in the 80s when my hair looked like that...I was a little young in 1980 to support that much hair spray on my head. Here's what was going on in Jo's life in 1980:

Jo was 14. Jo's final school holiday was a wonderful trip to France, specifically the Normandy D-Day beaches and Bayeaux for the tapestry. Jo's Dad went along as a Parent Helper and was very popular with the boys as he regaled them with stories of his army days.
In September Jo started High School, a vast mixed comprehensive. After swap day Jo wrote in her school book "My first impressions were how old the pupils were. I did not know if they were children or teachers". As it was the tail end of the 1970s there were still old-school punks there with the mohicans, ripped jeans and studded jackets. They were obviously NOT teachers, Jo decided.

There was only one guy in my high school who ever had a mohawk, and I think he had to get his hair cut like that because he lost a bet. But I did go to a very conservative high school...we were not even allowed to hold hands with our boyfriends in the hallways!

Jo requested that we share what either 1) what happened to us in our assigned year, 2) what happened to us at that age, or 3) what happened when we had that life event.

I can't remember anything outstanding happening in 1980; I moved in 1979 (in the middle of second grade!), so I was still trying to make friends. I am sure I saw "The Empire Strikes Back" as soon as it came out!

As for starting high school, I mentioned my high school before. It was a very small school...there were only about 2000 students in grades K-12! The elementary school was on the same campus, just down a dirt road about 200 yards. Junior high (grades 7-9) was in the same building as high school, but the building was split in half, and junior high students were not allowed to cross the invisible line that ran down the hall outside the cafeteria! I was allowed to go over to the high school side once a day in eighth grade, because I was taking Algebra a year early. Thank goodness, because in 7th grade math(s) we were reviewing long division and I was bored to tears!! As a result of being in the same building, starting high school was no big deal. There was one great thing about starting high school, though...I finally made the cheerleading team! I had a blast being a cheerleader (and being the only one that the band members would tolerate cheering in front of them at pep rallies!)

Finally, we are supposed to post something we stitched that we think Jo will like. I know she has been stitching some lovely garden designs lately, and I also know that she loves Halloween designs. So here are some long-leggity garden beasties!

This is a box designed by Rae Iverson of Moss Creek Designs. I stitched it quite a while ago, and it was a challenging piece for me at that time. Each critter is composed of different specialty stitches, and the only cross stitch is over one!

I hope you have enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Now go wish Jo a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Retro Travel Sunday: Victoria, BC

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In my last Retro Travel Sunday post, our Alaskan cruise had left us in Ketchikan. Well, not "left us"...we were not stranded, despite our propensity to cut our boarding times really close. Our final stop on the cruise was in Victoria, British Columbia. Now, I have wanted to visit Victoria for a while...I really wish I could go to a Victoria Sampler retreat, but mostly, I just wanted to have tea at the Empress Hotel and visit Butchart Gardens. Unfortunately, our in-port time was so short, there was no way to do both. We decided that we didn't want to rush tea at the Empress, so we took a shore excursion to Butchart Gardens. That also was too short for my tastes, but at least we got to see the whole thing!

Our bus ride through town didn't allow us to see too much, but then, it looks like things were tough all over...

 

Hey, buddy, can you spare a Tie Fighter?

The first thing we learned when we got there was that it's not Butchart Gardens, it's THE Butchart Gardens.

 

The next thing we realized was that we were going to have to go very, very fast to make it through the whole Gardens in the time we had. Waaaaay faster than we wanted to.

 

I mean, I've been known to stare at a clump of irises like this for a good ten minutes.

The first major area you come to is an old quarry that Mrs. Butchart converted to a beautiful garden. So, the whole thing looks a bit "sunken".

 

I think this was my favorite part of the Gardens!

 

I show you this next picture only so you can appreciate my picture taking skill. Because, most places you looked, this is the kind of view you'd see:

 

This is what happens when multiple cruise ships bus in loads of folks all at once. Not really the relaxing garden experience you want, but we made do.

This is right around the area we saw the mamma otter and one of her babies dash by!

 

They were way too quick for me to get a picture.

 

You can really see the quarry walls in this next shot.

 

Home of the otters! (Though we never saw them again.)

 

Beautiful fountain set up in another of the quarry-made lakes.

 

Even though we were there in June, the azaleas and rhododendrons were still in bloom (they bloom around April here in Atlanta).

 

I actually asked about it, and the volunteer I spoke to said that it was very unusual for it to be cold there so late...their azaleas usually bloom around the same time as ours!

 

There were some gorgeous big redwoods. It made me want to go back to Sequoia National Park really badly!

 

There were several other sections of the Gardens; like one with "ancient" plants, and a formal section. But if I showed you pictures of all of them, this post would measure several yards! So I'll just skip to the next largest section of the Gardens--the Japanese garden.

 

Here I am under the Torii gate, wondering where the Shinto shrine is.... (You learn in Japan that if you see one of these gates, there is a shrine close by!)

There were lots of very neat, twisty trees there.

 

They were a cool Pacific Northwest take on giant bonsai...way more moss than in Japan. =)

 

I think I had to say "Michael" about fifty times to get him to turn around so I could take this picture. =)

 

Finally, it was time to leave.

 

The gate in this giant hedge leads out to the old house...

 

...which now contains a gift shop. A very large gift shop!

Yeah, I didn't get enough time in there, either. =)

JiffNotes
Gorgeous flowers at Butchart Gardens...sorry, THE Butchart Gardens, but sadly, no time for tea.