Kelly's blanket

Kelly's blanket is finally a FO!!!  It measures 54 inches across and IMHO is gorgeous!!  Now I have to let loose and let her have it!!  My favorite part of it is the celtic knots in the corners and even if they don't show well there's cables on each side of the section!!  I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!!  Hope she will be too!!

The Might Be Cables Scarf  (the rest of the pattern is in the previous post!!)

Might Be Cables Scarf:

Size 8 needles

model was worked with Patons Classic Wool

205m/223 yds   100g/3.5 oz

1.5 skeins

CO 49 stitches

Knit the first 8 rows

The note on the pattern should read starting on Row 9 and all odd rows of pattern

Knit in pattern until desired length (model was 44 inches)

Knit 8 rows

Bind off

ENJOY!!!!

Taking the same pattern as the scarf I did a matching hat!!

And  a pair of socks are on the needles to match!!

My Might be Cables Scarf

I've got a scarf pattern written up and am trying to figure out how to share it!!!  Please have patience and as soon as I can master this @#!!**&^ computer I'll be sharing it with you!!!!!

This is what I'm trying to work with!!!!  ARGHHHH!!!!!

:( Carla

Wait, just a minute!!!  I clicked on the picture and it came up large and printable!!!!  Whoo Hooo!!!  Please let me know if this works!!!!  I'll add a picture as soom as my camera batteries charge!!!

John's Un-Harry Potter Sweater

My DD and SIL have moved to Germany!!  He's a Sargent now in the Army and they're stationed there for 3 years.  I got a call the other day for "emergency sweaters!!"  Seems that even though the kids knew for awhile that they were going, they didn't find any cold weather clothes!!  So I start off on a plain percentage sweater for my 6' 3" SIL to make sure of the fit before I get "creative"!!  I'm working away and can't help myself..... I keep thinking about the sweaters Mrs. Weasley makes in the Harry Potter stories!!  I want to put a great big J in the middle of the chest!!!!!  Now you need to know that my DD is an absolute Potter fan, but my SIL can't stand him!!!!  I resist the urge as long as I can and decide I've got to do something!!  I've got a great book by Elsebeth Lavold,  "Viking Patterns for Knitting" that has a section on Runes.   I get to her alphabet and find the closest thing I can to his initial and added it to the front where the big J should've been!!! LOL!!!  That's why it's his Un-Harry Potter sweater!!!  I really like the way it turned out!!  It's the letter "h" from her runes which (if I understand the chart) is the G sound and since the last name is G.... it's there!!!!  I'm hoping that he likes it and will leave explaining all the twists and turns to the SIL!!! LOL  LOve you John!!!

ARGHHHH!!!

Trying hard to update, but since the last update Windows won't let me open the picture downloader to add pics!!!!! I'm soooooooo upset!!!! I'll keep trying.... until then....

The piggy has moved once more!! I should've known not to even unpack at the last place. I work at a psyche hospital and my first clue should've been when the landperson said " oh, you work at ...... I've been a patient there!!" Bells and whistles should've gone off in my head and I should've just called Budget and rented a truck right then!!!! She had a big problem with my dogs and I had a big problem with her being a nut job!!! And I don't mean that in a good way either!!!!

We've moved into another trailer, but twice the size of the one we were in!! My sewing room has doubled in size and my computer is set up right in front of the window!! It's on the edge of the edge of a small town called Grape Creek (small enough that our electric is listed as Carlsbad and our mailing address is San Angelo!!). We've got goats across the street and jackasses 3 houses down and horses next door. The bestest part is we've got a great herd of llamas where I turn to come to the house. I love looking at these great animals (but know enough not to get too close, spitters they are!!! LOL!!). After we've been here awhile longer I'm going to see if I can get to know the owners!! Maybe they'll let me grab some scraps!!!! LOL!!!!

The DD is now in Germany!! She posts loads of pictures on her facebook!! I'm sooooo glad that she and her DH decided to do this.... they're young and only have doggies, no kids yet. It's the perfect time to see the sights and have fun!!! I'm driving her car for the next 3 years. I'm not really sure that she didn't buy it for me..... who buys a brand new car, knowing they can't take it with them unless they have other things in mind????? I've put my loving Taurus in the yard. I'm not about to give it up all the way!!! I paid $450 for it 6 years ago (1988 Taurus, in rough shape) and it's given me it's heart for all 6 years!! I have kept a great mechanic in Pepsi's for those 6 years and he tells me over and over to dig a hole and drive it into it!! Then he works miracles and gets it running again!!! LOL!!

Seasons of Lace is again going and I've got bunches on the needles... and would share with you if I could get this stupid thing going!!! The kids (DD and SIL) now need the wool sweaters and socks and afghans that they didn't need here in TX!! So between them and an outbreak of need for prayer shawls where I work (there's been 3 family deaths in the last 2 months!!) I'm staying busy, busy!!

Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to post my pics later this week and I'll be back!!!!!

:D Carla

Catching Up!!

It's been a hot time around the old pig pen lately!!! Literaly!! Our Air Conditioner went out and here in Texas it's noooooo time to do with out AC!!! It was 99F in our living room!!! I didn't dare turn on the computer for fear it would melt!!!! LOL!! We have now got it fixed and hope it will make the rest of the summer!!

I've gone back to work full time...... ARGHHHHH!!! It's not a hard job, just trying to get in knitting time and sleep (I work 11pm to 7am) and the new puppy on top of that!! Trying to get anything finished is turning into a hard job!!! Speaking of the new puppy.... Here's Jr!! He's sleeping under the table that I use for my computer. He's growing like a weed and is spoiled rotten!!! LOL!!!

I've also gotten addicted to Facebook!! Not the main part but an application called Farm Town!!!If you're on Facebook go by Supersow's Farm!!! There's a story behind this addiction!! I can't grow anything in real life..... not even ivy!!! Everything turns brown and dies!!! My Mom used to send me plants and on the card would put "See how long it takes you to kill this one!!" Now on Farm Town everything lives.... it blooms.... it bears fruit and veggies and flowers!!!! I know it's only digital, I know it's not real..... but it LIVES!!!! LOL!!! I'm afraid I spend waaaaay too much time there!!!

I've been doing some test knitting and have really been having a good time doing that. I have done 2 socks and am still working on a shawl. I'm having hades itself with the shawl and I don't think it's anything to do with the pattern.... I'm a chart person and this pattern is done row by row. It's not something that I can't do, it's something that I'm having real problems with. This is a new thing for me.... most of the time I can fairly fly through lace!! It's really teaching me humility!!!! I'm looking forward to getting into some more of the lace work. I do a chart and then go back and work on the row by row again!! I'm thinking really hard about going to the frog pond once more and restarting in some cashmere..... maybe a really great yarn will keep me at it!!!!

Last, but now least, Happy Father's Day to the Old Man!!! I'm hoping that he goes and plays golf tomorrow, or does something else fun!!! He sometimes deserves it!!! I guess he puts up with me, so that counts!!!! LOL!!!

Happy Father's Day Old Man!!!!!

:D Carla

And The WINNERS ARE!!!!

The winner of the knitting book, "A Passion for Cables" IS:
(Drum Roll :D )

Neejess!!!!

The winner of the crochet book, "From Needles to Hook" IS:
(another Drum Roll :D )

Bambie!!!!

Thank you all for leaving the great comments!!! I've soooooo enjoyed this that I'm planning on doing it again soon!!!!

And Shaggy Jr says Thanks too!!!!!

:D Carla

I'm Back!! and A Give Away!!!!!!

I'm Back!!!! Many, many "I'm sorrys" for being gone sooooo long!!!! To make it up to you here's a giveaway!!!!!

For the Crocheters among us..... this book. It has tons of information about how to change any knitted pattern into crochet!! Just leave me a comment and put Crochet as the first word!!! (Make sure I have either your Ravelry name or your email!!)



This is for the Knitters among us!! Just leave a comment with Knitter as the first word!!!

On June 1 I'll draw (yes, the old fashioned way, I put the numbers on paper and put them in a bowl and let the DH draw!!!!) and let some lucky persons know that their book will be on it's way!!!

This is my new computer, sewing room. It's supposed to be a bedroom (it would make a good closet!!!)!! It gives me plenty of room for just getting away and working (yeah, right, crusing Ravelry, playing games, reading emails, reading blogs!! LOL!!!) Working is going to be high on my to do list though!!! I've got some designs rattling around in my head right now!!! I will be finishing the pillow ghan, too!!! I'm again sorry about being sooooo slow!!!

This was the view from our front porch the other night. It's not a blue moon, but I enjoyed it!! The porch is a good place to escape to. (as long as you have at least one dryer sheet in your pocket to get the mosquitos to leave you alone!!! Here in Texas they tend to be large and vicious!!!!)




Last, but definately not least!!! This is why I'm not getting a whole lot done!!! You remember that I had to put my old dog, Shaggy, to sleep in Feb?? Well my DD's border collie had been spending some time with us just before that and I got a phone call in March!!! Meet Shaggy Jr!!!! The old boy had one last fling and here is Shaggy's son!!! He's his Daddy made over and quiet a handful!!!! We're having a bit of an issue with potty training..... or at least I am!!! He's not having a bit of trouble... he just goes when and where he wants to!!! ARGHHHHH!!!! I don't know which one of us is being house broken, but we're certainlly working hard at it!!! LOL!!!

Again I'm sorry I've been away soooooooo long!!!

:D CArla

Moving!!

The Piggy is moving into a new Pen!! That being said..... this is my house right now!!

ARGHHHHHHH!!! So the Piggy will be offline for about 2 weeks waiting on internet!!

I'll send pics of the new place sooooooon as possible!!

:D Carla

Good-Bye Old Fat Dog

I had our old dog put down today. He was 11 yrs old and his health had been going down hill rapidly. He was a funny old dog and kept us both company and gave us unconditional love even when we didn't deserve it!! I just couldn't see him hurting and not being able to breathe. I wanted him to go and see God while he could still get a little enjoyment out of his life. He would perk up for a little while and then he'd sleep for days and cry when he tried to walk.

This is DH and Shaggy on the couch. I don't know which one needs a nap more??


This was his favorite place. On a stool in front of a window where he could look out and bark at anyone that dared to walk by!! He had to be lifted on and off of the stool lately, but he still loved it there!!

And sound asleep on a pillow on the couch. Good-bye by dear, dear friend. I hope that you can run and play now and are really happy!! We'll always love and remember you.

:( Carla

Just for Fun

You'll see a little addition on the sidebar!! It's a knitting meter from:

http://knitmeter.com/

It's sooooo much fun to actually see the total miles knitted!! This is for the last 2 days!!! I'm loving it!!

:D Carla

Birthdays, you gotta have them!!

I just finished mine yesterday!! The wonderful friends I've met on Ravelry made it one to remember!!!

This cake is from Sadie (sitnknit). She's having internet problems and emailed this one to me!!! Don't you love cakes that will never go stale and have absolutely NO calories to feel guilty about!!!! She's a one of a kind lady and I'm lucky to get to call her my friend!!!

These two are from cspooks!!! A moderator on the Luau Lounge on Ravelry!! That's a really great place to just hang around!!! I'm mainly a lurker, but I have loads of fun doing just that!!! My Ravelry name is thispiggyknits and the piggy cake is actually eating the cake in the original!!!! Now how she knew that I was a Trekkie from the 60's I don't know!!!! I can say I LOVE them both!!

These wonderful cupcakes are from guppygirl!! Again NO calories!!! I couldn't have picked better sweets!!!! LOL!!

Add to these multiple Happy Birthdays from Ravelry friends and it made for a really special day!!

And to top it all, my number 3 son actually called on my birthday!!!! I was sooooo glad that I was sitting down!! He never remembers!! On the other hand, my DD forgot!!! Now he's finally one up on her!! LOL!! She's number 4 in the children order and they have this competition going since just about the day she was born!!! LOL!!

On the knitting front, I'm still working on my blocks!! So it may be next week for the rest of the pictures. :( I have had a real problem staying focused on this one. I think that next one I'll mix up the blocks and do a really complicated pattern selection!! I just got in all the Great American Afghan series and may use blocks from them...... back to knitting plain squares!! I wanted this one to be simple to follow to make it easy for even a beginner to be able to have a great afghan!!

I'm also getting to do a test knit on a new shawl pattern!! Glorious lace!!!! My addiction!!!! LOL!!

:D Carla

Delay on Pillow-ghan pattern

Just a quick note to let you know the pattern will be next week instead of this one. You can thank the tooth fairy...... I had 2 abcessed teeth pulled and can't focus enough to finish up my blocks. Sorry!!!
:( Carla

Pillow-Ghan

I've been working on getting this ready!! This will be for a pillow-ghan. An afghan that folds into itself to make a pillow when not in use as a blanket!! It's a really easy, fun gift that I use frequently!! The squares are 16.5" by 18.5" and you'll need 13 of them. This is one of my squares.

Pattern:

Size 9 needles

Worsted weight yarn..

(I'm using):

I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby

Each square takes almost 4 ozs. (my scales aren't the best)

CO 65 stitches

Rows 1-6: Knit

Row 7 (wrong side): *K3, p1, repeat from * across ending with a K3

Row 8 (and all right side rows: K across

Row 9; repeat row 7

Row 11: K1, p1, *K3, p1, repeat from * across ending with a K1

Row 13: repeat row 11

Rows 15 - 92: Repeat rows 7 - 14 9 more times. Then repeat rows 7 - 10 once more.

Rows 93 - 98: Knit

Bind off loosely

This is the texture, sorry about the lousy picture!!

You'll need 3 strips of 4 squares each!!

I'll post pictures of how to put these together to make the pillow-ghan as soon as I finish my squares!! I went ahead and posted this much to let you get started!! Remember 13 squares!!

And I'll post the rest next week!! Have fun!!

:D Carla

finished!! and ramblings!!

First a little bit about the weather!! Texas is a one of a kind state when it comes to weather!! Cold/hot/whatever.... if you don't like the weather, just stick around for a couple of days and it'll change!! The last couple of week have seen 82 for a high and 28 for a high!! This is the 28 day!!
You know the wonderful thing about looking out and seeing your car covered in ice???? Knowing that you don't have to take off your flannel PJ's and get dressed and go scrape it off!!
Now for the finished!!! Laminaria is blocking as I type!! It's smaller than I had hoped, but still a fairly good size. I'm hoping that the lady it's for is smaller than me!! (that doesn't take much!!) I really enjoyed this pattern and plan on using the stars over and over again!! I loved the way they look!!
This is the star pattern..... but what's that??? A black hole??? I'm really hoping that the non-knitting lady this is going to doesn't mind a black hole in her stars!!! And no, I can't figure out what I did wrong!!! I didn't even see this until blocking!!

This is clue 1 & 2 of Lady Jane. That's the newest KAL from Knitting Delight Yahoo group!! http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/Knitting-Delight/
This is a great group.... the only down side is that most of the posts are in German. The designer does all her posts in both German and English and the patterns are in charts!!! It's really fun!! This is the 3rd shawl I've done of hers and I've loved them all!! (did I mention the posts are in German because it's a German group?? DUh!!)

I've rattled on enough and I just got in some silk cobweb that is just calling my name, loudly!! Silk.... cobweb.... have I lost my mind?!?!? Well, yes!! This is from Colormart http://www.colourmart.com/eng and it's the first, but not the last time I've used them!! I also got some samples of their to die for cashmere!!! Oh, My!!! So, I've got to get back to fondling yarn and knitting!!!

Soon as I can get my squares done I'm going to be putting a pattern here for a pillowghan with pictures showing construction/folding. I'll be working on that soon!!

:D Carla

Just for Fun

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

What's" Your Word?

This came from a great blog!! Knitting in the Shadows:
http://shadowdancer.typepad.com/blog/

:D CArla

FO Afghan and casting on another shawl!!

It's a finished project!!! I just got finished casting off 688 stitches and spread this out on my queen sized bed!! Sorry about the poor pics..... I'll never make a photographer!! It turned out 66 inches across and semi-square since I rounded off the corners. I like it... but I might have a little bias going on!! LOL!!

I really wish this blue was as pretty in the picture as it is in real life.

Now I get to use this to die for cashmere yarn that I got from The Knitting Goddess!!!

www.theknittinggoddess.co.uk

It's been a long time coming and it's definately worth the wait!!! For anyone wanting yarn I recommend this shop!! She had all kinds of problems getting my yarn to me and was wonderful through it all!! My first order's mailing wrapper was sent back to her with no yarn!! She pm'd me as soon as she got it. I picked out more yarn and she had to pm me that some of it wasn't available!! After this she offered to specially dye a skien just for me in a color that I had told her I wanted to know when she dyed it again!! Can you say customer service!!!! I'm definately going to use her again!!

This is for the Seasons of Lace Winter KAL for the Laminaria! I can't wait to cast on!!!

So.... back to knitting!!!
:D Carla

No, I'm not dead!! Just my camera!!

Hi again!! I'm really not amongst the dead, just have had a dead camera for months now!! :( I've been dying to get back to taking pictures and sharing!! I've started on a pillow-ghan that I'm going to be sharing the pattern step by step in pictures!! I've got a good bit more knitting to do before that happens, so bear with me!!

Since I've been gone I've got quiet a few projects finished, so here comes bunches of pictures!!!


This monster is what I'm working on right now!! I sent DH to Michaels to buy yarn for a contest on Lion Brand website for Vanna's choice yarn. I told him how many and left the colors up to him!! He brought home yellow, green and blue. My thoughts went to sunshine, trees, water!! Pictures of the Oregon coast popped into my head. This is the celtic knot that I used for the sun and the trees and the start of the water. It's now up to over 600 stiches per row, so it's going to be awhile before it's a FO!! (there a lot more "water" done)

This is an "experiment". I had some Red Heart designer sport left from making a friend a sweater for Christmas and just wanted to play. This is what came out. I've got plans to do this in lace weight and it's probably going to be posted on this blog when I can tweak the pattern. It went to Canada as a prayer shawl!!

This is my Autumn in New York from Bad Cat Designs

http://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/
I love this pattern and it's soooo easy to follow!! She's one talented Kitty!!!! She's got a new pattern out right now, Ojo de Dios, that I'm stalking yarn shops for!! She just took it to TNNA for Jade Sapphire and it hasn't hit the market yet, but it's on her blog!! This one went out as a prayer shawl too!! I think that Ojo de Dios would be a perfect prawer shawl.... what better than "Eye of God" for a name for a prayer shawl!!??!!




A sweater for the DD for her Christmas.... Looks like she's having fun, huh?? This was a test knit and as soon as the designer gives the O.K. I'll give all the details!!

A pair of socks for ME!! This is Aquarius, I got the pattern on Ravelry and can't remember the rest!! I also got the wonderful yarn from DebInAtlanta on Ravelry as a Random Act of Kindness!!!! I've lost the label, but this yarn is absolutely to die for!! It's really a lot more of a turquiose than the picture and is soooo soft!!

This is a Schoolhouse press KAL, the Pansy Shawl. I did my thing and modified the pattern to suit me and added beads on the wings!! It went out for an exchange on Ravelry!!

This one was for a KAL prize!! I had fun with it!! It was the Autumn Glory Shawl pattern that I got from Kay Meadors/ Natural State Knits http://naturalstateknitter.blogspot.com/ I also have a pi version called Autumn Leaf Pi Shawl that's about to become a WIP from her!!

Now I've got to get back to the "Water"!! I only have another week to finish that.

I also have a wonder pi.... Orkeny Pi from Elizabeth Lovick http://www.northernlace.co.uk/ on the needles and it's going great. I'm already up to the 3rd increase pattern!!

I have just downloaded a wonderful oval pi from the EZasPi yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EZasPi/?yguid=316812197

I've wanted to do a oval tablecloth and I think this is the perfect start!!! Whoo Hoo!! It's going on the needles soon too!! (can you tell I have knitting ADHD??)

I'm also in 5 KAL's, so I guess I've rambled on long enough!!!

I need to stop here and say a Texas size THANK YOU!!!! to my wonderful SIL who fixed my camera!!!! I don't know what I'd do without his computer skills!! Oh, yeah, I'd go and buy another camera and listen to the DH moan and groan about budgets!! LOL!! John is wonderful and I have to give my DD credit for her excellent taste in husbands!!!!

Welcome Home John!!

:D Carla