What's on my needles (week 12)

Before anything else I want to start with a small personal tribute to Ira Gutner. 

 

For those of you who don't know Ira:  He was the owner of a lovely little coffee shop in Rhinebeck, Upstate NY: Samuel's.  But he was much more than that. He did his bit to make Rhinebeck a closer knit community (pun intended) in all he did.  I first met Ira during a "knit in public event" at The Knitting Garage.  It was refreshing to meet a relatively new knitter who was so enthusiastic about the craft.  Later, when I started giving lessons and working in Rhinebeck,  Ira became a familiar and welcome face.  He embraced knitting and designing his own line of fair isle hats with fervent enthusiasm and I was often his go-to person to bounce off ideas for a new design or on how to make the shape work better or on which colors would look best together for a specific effect.  His creative mind seemed to work on overdrive and he inspired me to forge forward designing.  I still can't wrap my head around that he won't be walking through those red double doors any more.  I still find myself "talking" with him and am sure that he is knitting and designing for a long time to come in his after life.  I just wish he could have stayed with us longer.  He will be missed for his warm smile and big bear hugs.

At The Knitting Garage

Venumous Tentacular

I finished the venumous tentacular.  It is such a lovely shawl and shows off the yarn beautifully.  As I mentioned last week I will be giving a class on Saturday 19th on the pattern; explaining the stitches used and the construction of the shawl.  Remember, too, that all classes come with additional instructions free of extra charge until you have the project finished.
Please note:  Since nobody signed up for the Easter egg cozies class this Saturday 4.12. and the 19th is the Saturday before Easter, and I had some requests about the venumous tentacular class, I will be giving this class for two Saturdays: 4.12. AND 4.19.  Please let me know by latest Friday 6pm if you want to attend the class so the pattern can be purchased for all participants.

Kitty

I cast on my next store sample "Kitty", a cute short sleeved cardigan for 2-8 year olds. This is a simple top down raglan construction with lace. The cardigan is further enhanced by the sweet crochet edging. To pull it all together (quite literally) it closes with a wide satin ribbon.
So far it is a quick knit as you can see by the progress I made in just one day.

 I am using the Spud and Chloe Fine which I had worked with before when I made my "Pendulum" shawl.  It is a wool and silk blend yarn which gives good stitch definition and is very nice to work with.

                                           

At Home            

Tony's lucky socks

Tony came home last Sunday and I made him model his new socks :)  Actually he had put them on quite happily and voluntarily the first day back.  These are knitted in Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk.

                                       

Tony told me that these are his best fitting socks yet, so don't miss my classes on the three major construction points:

• Judy's magic cast on for two at the time toe up socks (Sat 4.26.)
• Fish Lips Kiss Heel (Sat 5.3.)
• Jenny's stretchy bind off and some other stretchy bind offs (Sat 5.10) 

Fortuna Fan's Baby Blanket

The baby blanket for my nephew's baby due in August is all finished and ready to be shipped.  I made this in Cascade Aran, sooo soft and cozy! To make the design a little more interesting I switched colors after 1/2 stripe when I was at the point to start my decreases.

So, does this mean I have nothing on my needles at home?  

No, I "forgot" to tell you that I am working on a knitted bracelet for a friend of mine:

Diamond Cuff 

I thought that I would have knitted this up in no time "under the radar".  I had bought Laura Nelkin's  kit over a year ago when I was in the Finger-lakes Region spending time on Seneca Lake. I thought at the time it would make a nice gift for my friend Joan with whom I had been beading for many years.  Now I am more into knitting and she makes the most beautiful beaded creations.  Well her 2013 birthday came and went, then her 2014 birthday was approaching last month and two weeks before her birthday came around I thought I could just whip this up quickly.  Wrong.  This bracelet is knitted on size 0 needles, so between the itty bitty needles and trying to place the beads correctly I was challenged.  I even got different needles, Chiao Goo's, which have a sharper point which is really important for lace knitting (my knitpicks needles seemed OK, but these work better).  After putting it into hibernation for a few weeks I picked the project up again last Monday and I finally "got it" (see also my pattern notes on ravelry ).  My note to self:  Next time I want to do knitted beaded jewellery I should pick up a kit at The Knitting Garage; there are a few by Laura Nelkin and all of those use bigger needles (I am fine with size 2; it's what I use for socks...).
Don't get me wrong: the pattern is beautiful and it will look stunning, but maybe just a bit hard for me.