Wednesday, January 13, 2010

FIRST FINISHES FOR 2010



I finished 3 scarves last week.  One had been in progress for quite a few months.  I had taken a class at the LYS to do a moebius cowl earlier last year.  I loved the yarn I chose - Lornas Laces Shepherds Worsted in a semi solid and one of her spectacular colorways.  I don't know why I was unmotivated to finish it before but over the past week we have had abnormally cold temps here in NE FL and I turned on my addi turbos and zoomed thru the completion of these 3 scarves.Here is the Moebius cowl.

The next one is also a project I started earlier last year. A knitwear designer Jarrod Flood AKA Brooklyn Tweed had a freebie pattern that was wildly popular. You selected two colorways of Noro yarn and knit 2 rows off one skein and the two rows off the 2nd skein. The striping effect of the Noro yarn was further enhanced by alternating two colorways. Mine is more subdued because I chose similiar colorways and I was not looking for something wildly dramatic. It is just a simple k1p1 ribbing but is a very usable item.





Finally here is Jody's scarf - I was only two weeks late in completion which is pretty good for my non compliance of meeting deadlines in needlework. It is from the Berroco Men's book. It is the Juva scarf and is knit with Berroco Cuzco which is 50/50 Alpaca/wool - a lovely textured yarn and quite weighty. Jody loved it however I could not get him to model it. Guess he did not want his mug plastered all over blogland. LOL
It was a simple design but was charted to make up the patterning you see. It was a fun design to knit.


Again no stitching progress to show.  I am back to my parents anniverary sampler.  I have to really focus on that piece otherwise it will not be done by this summer.  As fast as time flies by I know I will be struggling to meet that deadline.  I did join the PS Alphabet SAL and I will try to find time to work on B is for Blackbird soon.  It will be a nice small piece to work on when I grow tired of that Scarlet Letter piece for my folks.  Another SL piece I am dying to start is And All Was for An Appil - Lots of my friends in blogland are stitching this one - just an informal SAL. I have acquired the chart but need to look thru my stash for linen.  I am going to try harder this year to pull from stash or at least look thru what I have before purchasing "MORE" linen. 
The other exciting news this week is that our annual rug hooking conference is starting Friday afternoon.  Off the Ocean is having it's 11th annual conferenece here in Jacksonville.  It is something that my mom and I do together every year.  She started hooking about 5 years ago and we share a room at the host hotel which makes us feel like we are miles away from home.  We enjoy this time together however this year we are in seperate classes.  I am challenging my skill level this year by taking a more advanced teacher (Sibyl Osicka) who specializes in fine shading.  I am doing a traditional crewel rug which is fairly large.  I won't have speedy progress on this one because the cut of wool will be finer and I will have to be tutored more on this type of hooking.  I have done *some*  fine shading so it is not totally foreign to me but usually I use a 5 or 6 cut and it moves along faster than a 3 and 4.  So next post - I will hopefully have some photos from our camp experience and a finish photo on my pomegranate runner.  I forgot to take that photo last night.  I enjoy hearing from each and every one of you.  I hope the new year is off to a great start for you all.

12 comments:

Alice said...

Wow you have done a lot! I bet it feels good to cross stuff off that not completed list. They all look great too.

Deb said...

All three of your finished projects look great Mel! I bet it felt really good to get three things checked off the to-do list (btw, my scarf still isn't done - would you like to help? LOL).

Can't wait to see your start on PS Alphabets and AAWFAA. They're both fun to do and you're in good company - none of us are in a hurry to finish them (well maybe Margaret - she's so speedy :)

Hope that you have a wonderful time this weekend at your Rug Camp. Take lots of pictures!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

All 3 scarves are gorgeous! I especially love the first one - wish I knit (sort of) :-)
Have fun with the PS ABC SAL - it looks like fun and it'll be gorgeous when done.
Have fun at your rug outing - sounds like fun. Anytime you can get away with gal pals, and like minded ones at that, it has gotta be a good time!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Your needles have been blazing! Wonderful finishes! Perfect timing with all this cold weather.

So you gave in to the call of the PS ABC's, huh?! YAY! I'm glad someone I know IRL is doing it!

I'm looking forward to dropping by your rug camp on Sunday. I hope my scratchy throat gets better by then because I don't want to miss seeing all the wonderful projects everyone is working on. I'll be interested to hear how your class goes as you venture further into the world of fine shading. It's all so fascinating!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Wow... you've accomplished a lot in 2010. Everything looks wonderful. Enjoy your Rug Camp.

Cari said...

Mel - your knitting projects are BEAUTIFUL!! Good job!! Love all three. I want to start on AAWFAA but alas, I have a ton of WIPs going on right now and need to finish a few. And this cold Florida weather....it's got me knitting too!! Luckily this weekend is supposed to be warmer even though it will be wetter. Not a problem - I'll be stitching. Have fun with your Mom and your rug hooking camp. I look forward to seeing what you're up too! Hugs

Margaret said...

Ohhh, I love all your knitty finishes! Especially that cowl -- the color in that is gorgeous! What fun! I love Jarod Flood! :D I hope you do join in with AAWFAA. I also hope I get back to it at some point! lol! Looking forward to your rug hooking camp pics! Have a great time!!!

Nancy said...

Your knitting skills amaze me Melody! All three scarves are gorgeous! What pretty yarns.

Have fun at your conference on Friday. I'll look forward to seeing the piece you hook with fine shading.

Ranae said...

Wowza! All three scarves are fantastico!
The colors are fab

Siobhán said...

Ummm, OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! What amazing, gorgeous finishes, Mel! I am so impressed with your talent. Beautiful!

On AAWFAA, I followed what Carol Sims did on hers... did the outlining first and then filled in. It was like coloring where you outline things and then color in the shapes. Easy peasy. It's a fun sampler to do. It was my car project, I'd pull it out here and there and work on it while waiting on the rugrats to get out of school. It was only in the last month or so that I worked on it as a 'regular' WIP. You can do it... and it'd look so nice with your hooked rugs!

Enjoy your weekend retreat!

Karoline said...

Your needles must be smoking! All the scarfs are lovely.

Have a great time at your retreat

Susan said...

All of these finishes are gorgeous! Hope you are having a great time on your retreat!