Newest Project

I've been working on this for awhile, but I'm finally getting to the point that I can put some of it together:

This is how it starts.  I've got 56 blocks so far... 28 woven and 28 crocheted... That's why I call it a multi-media afghan!!  This is a fun pattern when it's finished... I've done a crocheted one (years ago).  The only problem area is putting it together.  You have to start at a corner and work from there...  Which I guess isn't a problem if you can remember which corner and where you're at!!!  LOL!!

This was the next batch put together... You can see our cat, Mouser, checking out my work... I don't think she approves...  Maybe I should let her pick out the squares!!!

As you can see it grows in a triangle...

And this is as far as I got on the yarn I had... Another order to Knit Picks, Oh, My, How can I stand it!!!  LOL!!!!!

I've also got a pattern for a cowl in a heavy lace/sock weight going, but no pics so far.  Both these patterns will be in my Ravelry Store when they're finished up!!

:D Carla

It's still cold outside!!!

But at least it's not freezing!!!!  That's a blessing!!!!

Finished the socks... Lady Igraine... (And if you're not on Ravelry you should be!!!)

My DD called yesterday and wanted my pattern for a knitted Pet Net:

I call mine a Piggy Net, and I'm guessing that you can tell why!!!  I'm working on getting this pattern written up and tested, then I'll add it to This Little Piggy Knits Ravelry Store which is where I sell my patterns.. I'm going to put it up as a freebie, and I'll let you guys know when it goes up!!!!

Now I'm headed back to working on a blanket for a friend of mine that's going to be gi-normous!!!!

:D Carla

Crazy Friday!!

I've got my 1st pattern for the Bleeping Sock games (the pre-pattern) almost done!!  I started it with some Wildefoot that I had in stash:

 This turned out to be plain, old, ugly!!!  I was past unhappy with the sock and it didn't fit the theme of the pattern at all....

Enter Kool-Aid.....  An afternoon with socks, Kool-Aid and a microwave and the ugly socks turned in these!!  Soooooo much better!!!!

Then I got an email today from Eat-Sleep-Knit yarn shop and their Yarnathon is back on!!!  Their group is on  Ravelry here... I'm on Team Octopurls!!!!!  I've been drooling over their yarn until I finally decided my computer was going to short out!!!!  Got to get an order out to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D Carla

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

New Year, new look!!!  Things have been beyond crazy around here and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this!!!!  I have been knitting like crazy!!  We moved to a house in town and it is like heaven!!!  The only draw-back is that all those food delivery places are now available!!!!!!! LOL!!!  This is soooo not a good thing!!!

I'm still loving Ravelry and right now my focus is turning to Bleeping Sock Games!!  They put out a "pre-game" pattern and start Feb 1 with the real games!!  Of course it's almost time for Ravellenic Games!!  I'm looking forward to that too!!!

I did get some Christmas knitting done this year!!! Socks for the SIL and stockings for both DD and SIL!!!

I don't promise, but I will try to do much better with the blog this year!!!!  I've got patterns started and will be adding them to my Ravelry store as soon as I can get them written and tested!!!!

Here's to 2014 being a much better year!!!!!!!!!!

Sunflower Shrug

I've had a lot of interest in this new pattern!!!!

I did this for Red Barn Yarn some time ago and Catherine (my pattern angel!!!) had it sized and tech edited for me and it's now available at the stores that sell her yarn.  And trust me.... her yarn is AWESOME!!!   Her colors have just a little bit of change, almost like shadows and it's sooooo soft!!!  I love working with both her and her yarn!!!!  I've got another shawl that I'm working on a pattern that I will probably put in my Ravelry Store hopefully by next month and I'm planning on using her sock sparkle yarn (to die for!!!  merino, silk, nylon and silver!!!!!!).  I've picked out the color, now I've got to get the yarn!!!  LOL!!!

Our knitter's guild is having a big blow out at the new Tom Green County Library Oct 1.  And we're having our knitting on display for the entire month of Oct in glass cases in the library lobby!!!  Knitting as an Art is going to be a lot of work, but it's such a great chance to show off our talents!!!!!

I've got another PI sweater on the design board, this time with cables!!  It's going to be a real sweater, without holes....LOL!!

This is my "Cabin in the Woods".  I wish it showed the color better... it's a pumpkin color and is just sooo much fun!!!  I'm hoping to have this on in the store by next month!!!

I guess I'd better get off the computer and back to the needles!!!!!!!

:D Carla

New Patterns Up!!!!

I've added 3.... Yes, 3 new patterns to my Ravelry store....
This Little Piggy Knits Designs

I've added the Piggy's Pie Sweater:

Katy's Prayer Shawl Pattern:

And My Progressive Lace Scarf:

Since I'm not exactly a computer whiz it's pretty well taken me all morning to add these and I'm proud of myself!!!!!  LOL!!!

On my needles right now I've got Fair Isle patterns.  I'm trying to teach my old brain a new way of thinking.... we'll see!!!!!  I've got a great vest pattern and a pair of knee socks that won't fit me...... ahhhhh well,  to go with the body, the calves have to be fat too..... how strange would it look it they weren't????

The DD is back in Germany!!!!  She's still trying to get over Jet lag, or maybe that's an excuse to sleep???  She's spending time with her favorite thing.... my SIL!!!!  LOL!!!!

I've got 2 cones of cobweb on it's way to make a wedding ring shawl and hope to have it done by the time we have our big blow-out in Oct!!  The Concho Valley Knitters Guild is having a display at the new San Angelo library for the month of Oct. and we're having a big public event on Oct 1!!!!!  Cross your fingers!!!

Back to the needles!!!  :D CArla

Stuck on Sweaters

I'm stuck on sweaters right now!!  My DD's celtic knot round sweater is finished!!

And Yes, that's a kitchen chair it's on.  DD is still in bed asleep and you know the saying, "Let sleeping Bears Lay"!!!  Well it goes for cranky DD's too!!!!  LOL!!!!  And yes, that's a nail holding it together... I couldn't find a shawl pin....  So what ever works in a pinch!!!

Next in line is another Piggy's Pie Sweater done for a lady from the LYS for her DD:

This is it laying out to block in my floor!!

And this is it finished up and on the chair!!  (Gertrude, my maniquin that I usually take pics on is on loan to the LYS to display a Piggy's Pie Sweater there!!)  This is a small size and I hope to never see/work with Panda Silk again!!!!  It literally eats my hands up!!  I'm pretty sure I've got a Bamboo allergy or an allergy to something that is used in this yarn to process the Bamboo. 

I've also been playing with the Tour de Fleece on the Corgi Hill Farm group on Ravelry and spinning  away on the great fiber I got from them!!!  This is awesome fiber!!!!

This is about 30 yards that I worked up from a sample that was included in my order!!!!  It said Polwart on the tag, and it was sooooo fun!!

This is the start on 100 gms of shetland.  I've got 100 gms of grey, brown, cream, and black to work up!!!  I have about 50 gms done so far!!!  I have high hopes of this being a small shawl.....

This is the start on a batt of Camel/Tussah that I'm soooooo hoping will be a shawl!!!  I've got 2 batts, so I'm planning on plying them together when I get both done!!  The color is "Underwater" and is beyond Awesome!!!!!!  All from Corgi Hill Farm and her service is beyond awesome!!!!!

And for some non-fiber content!!!  We loaded up on the the 4th and went to DeLeon Tx and met with my #2 son, Kenny for a visit!!!  This is the group of us, DD, DS#2, Me and DH!!!!

And yes, it was sunny and yes, it was hotter than Hades itself!!!!!!!  So on that note I'll ask everyone to Pray For Rain for Texas before our state dries up and blows away!!!!

:D Carla

I am alive, just a BAD Blogger!!!!

I know it's been forever since I updated!!!  I'm a really BAD BLOGGER... no bisquit!!!  I do have several fairly good excuses!!!  I've been trying to find out how to add several more hours to the day since 24 just doesn't seem to cut it!!!  If anyone out there has any way to do this, Please share it!!!!  LOL!!!

I have been knitting like a fool!!!  Especially during April and May.  I do sample/test knitting for yarn companies/designers and they go into overdrive just before TNNA!!!  I'm sure not complaining, just ubber busy!!!!!  I love working for these folks and they're great!!! 

I've also been designing and teaching classes from my designs.  The one I've just about got ready to go live with is my Piggy's Pie Sweater

The ladies in my class are really having fun with this one and 2 of them already have yarn picked out for a 2nd!!!  Of course they haven't been working on the border long..... it's a BIG border!!!  They're going to post to Ravely soon!!

I've also got a shawl pattern in testing.  Celtic Fay is going to be the next in line!!

This was designed especially for my swap partner (whose great pic is shown here!!!) and is being knit right now by a Great Knitter!!!!  Thanks Susan!!!  She's sent me emails with great corrections and suggestions!!!  It's going to be a piece of cake to get the pattern right with her help!!!

I've got a sweater on the needles right now for my DD to wear to a wedding.  I'm using some of the pattern from above and doing a round sweater..... This is the middle and hopefully it will be finished soon!!!!

It's a great yarn that our LYS is handleing now.... Ella Rae Lace and it's just perfect for this!!!  The colors in this pic aren't the greatest.... It's really prettier up close and personal!!!

I'm also working on a top-down sweater for the DD... it's done in Ty-Dy Sock Dots from Knit One Crochet Two and I LOVE that yarn!!!!

It fit me so I put in a band and when I tried it on here..... no way.  Go figure.... I'm 5'2" and she's almost 6'...... why wouldn't it fit right???  Can you say DUH!!!!!  So back to the drawing board for this one!!

I've also been trying my hand at spindle spinning and as you can see from these.... it's not going great, but it is soooooo going!!!

None of those balls are anywhere near as big as they look!!!  LOL!!!

Our Knitter's Guild Monday night was a hoot!!!  I got nailed by my Bestest Friend!!!  She is a really wonderful workaholic!!!  She made these for my piggy collection!!!!

Yes that's me.... looking like an idiot.... but is was REALLY FUN!!!!!!!!  Love you, Connie!!!!

And DD is spending a month here with us.  Her husband, my favorite SIL, had to go back to Germany, but she's staying until Aug 3!!!   She's not much of a morning person....

But she does improve later in the day!!!  She's been going to all my knitting groups and just hanging out.  Of course she spending a LOT of time on the internet with her hubby!!!!  Skype is great for them!!!!

 I've got a lot going on and am just loving it all!!!  DH is still driving a truck and at least he's here in TX right now!!!  That means that he gets to stop by home more often,  sometimes just long enough for a meal and a shower and then back on the road.... at least he gets to come home!!!!  I love that man more every day..... I've soooooo got a winner!!!!! 

I'll try to be a much better blogger now!!!  I'll keep the next one short!!!!!
:D Carla

Puzzle!!!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm addicted to jig-saw puzzles!!!  I found this site and I'm having fun!!!!  I thought that I would share it!!!!  Have fun!!!!
:D Carla

Catching Up!!

Well, we had a great class!!!!  It was small, but we had a load of fun!!  I told these ladies that I wanted them to take 2 words from this class..... I Can!!!  Before the 2 hours were over they both said exactly that.... I Can do this!!!!  I was sooooo proud of them!!!  And even though they had doubts that the pattern was actually simple, they finally decided that I was right!!!   I can't wait to see what they finish up with!!!!

I also added the pattern for this scarf to the class as an extra!!  It's basically the same pattern as the shawl and it will give them something different to play with!!  It's a great little scarf made out of Artyarns Mohair, Silk and Glitter.  I wish my picture was good enough to show the tiny little glitter in this yarn!!  It's sooooo pretty!!!  And I couldn't believe how soft this yarn is!!!  It's drapey and really soft!!  

This is the other thing that I've been working on.  It's a prayer shawl for a lady that has lost her Mom.  I hope that it brings her some comfort in the days to come.  Right now the loss is fresh and there's things that are keeping her running and keep her from thinking about missing her Mom, this is for later when the time comes that there's nothing to keep her spirits up.  The times when everyone has gone home and all the arrangements have been made and there's nothing but her and her thoughts.  That's when loss gets really real and hard to deal with.  I know, I still have days when I want to pick up the phone and call my Mom.

I've got to get back to the real world now and get to knitting!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D Carla

Shawl Class

 

  This is the simple shawl that I’m going to be teaching a class on at our new LYS!!  I think that it’s going to go well!!  This yarn is wonderful….. cashmere and silk!!!!  Talk about softer than soft!!  I couldn’t believe how easy it was to work with!!  One skein of Superior by Filatura Di Crosa….. 70% Cashmere and 30% Silk!!!  I’ve never worked with anything so soft and easy to knit with!!1  328 yards of lucious in only 25gms!!!!!  It’s more of a shawlette than a real shawl, but it’s soooo much fun and sooooo easy!!!

Carla

Can you believe it's 2011?????

2011_01060002
Originally uploaded by thislittlepiggyknits

I know I've been silent for a loooooong time. I'm trying to make my New Year a much better year for blogging!!!
I'm working on a PI type sweater I'm calling Dragon Scales..... I'm to the point of doing the front border now and will be adding the sleeves next week!!!!! I've also got a triangle shawl on the needles in 2 colors of sock yarn, a dark green and a dark blue. I'm using the Peacock Feathers patter because these colors are just too perfect for that!! They look like the colors you would find in a real peacock tail!!
Around the house the DH has a new job and is gone most of the time. He's driving long haul truck now and is all over the map!! If we get lucky he gets to come home once a month for 2 or 3 days!! It's hard on him, but it means loads of knitting time for me...... amazing how much more time you have on your hands if there's no one around but you and the dogs!!!
There's a new yarn store in San Angleo. Chandler's Cottage. I'm working on a triangle shawl class for them. I'm also meeting with a friend to knit on our TKGA Master's class once a week there. I'm also going to go to a "Fiber Arts" group today and see about knitting with them once in a while.
So much for my extremely boring life!!!!
:D Carla

It's a Go!!!!

2010_07070009
Originally uploaded by thislittlepiggyknits
I've finally got up enough nerve (and had enough test knit) to post this pattern for sale!!!! I now have a Ravelry Store!!!!
This Little Piggy Knits Ravelry Store
I've only got one pattern for sale right now and this is it!!! I've also got my freebie prayer shawl as a Ravelry download now!! Life is sooooo much simpler when you finally figure it out!!!!
On the homefront I'm trying to get 2 other patterns ready for test knitting. One is for a triangle scrap shawl and one is just an easy scarf/stole. I'm also working on getting a pattern done for the PI sweater. Add that to 2 sweaters test knitting, a sample shawl, 3 afghans and 3 commissions shawls and I think I can stay busy??????? LOL!!!
:D Carla

Good Bye My Friend

scan0001
Originally uploaded by thislittlepiggyknits

Tommie James went to see God yesterday. She is at peace and I know where she is is a wonderful, happy place. My saddness is for her husband and the people that she touched that will forever hold her in their hearts and miss her. She was a bit of a nut!! She had a wonderful laugh and even liked my coffee (I make coffee flavored water)!! We shared some really wonderful times and some really sad ones. I know that she is with God and with the ones that have passed before her. I hope that Uncle Ralph and MeMaw haven't made the coffee!! I will miss you my friend.
Carla

Prize time!!

I've got prizes in!!  I got this from the Implausible Yarn blog!!!  She had a birthday drawing for her birthday!!!  It's 450 yards of lucious sock weight from Dream in Color!!!!

This came in from Jimmy Bean wool for prizes for Seasons of Lace.  I won 3 separate prizes and it added up to 1700+ yards of baby alpaca!!!!! 

Whoo Hooo!!!!

:D Carla

2010_08040002

2010_08040002
Originally uploaded by thislittlepiggyknits

I got this for winning 3 different prizes on Seasons of Lace!!! It's from Jimmy Bean wools and is 1700+ yards of baby alpaca wonderful!!!!!

The New Dr. Seuss (Political commentary contained)

A new, updated, Dr. Seuss book:

I do not like this Uncle Sam,

I do not like his health care scam.

I do not like these dirty crooks,

or how they lie and cook the books.

I do not like when Congress steals,

I do not like their secret deals.

I do not like this speaker, Nan ,

I do not like this 'YES WE CAN.'

I do not like this spending spree,

I'm smart, I know that nothing's free.

I do not like your smug replies,

when I complain about your lies.

I do not like this kind of hope.

I do not like it, nope, nope, nope!

This was posted on one of my favorite blogs, Bev's Journeyings and I couldn't help helping myself!!  Sorry, Bev, couldn't resist!!!!
:D Carla

Catching Up

<><>

<>

<><>

PI Sweater Long Way

PI Sweater Short Way

Just a few pictures of what I've been up to!!  As you can tell I'm still stuck on the PI!!  This center has got me addicted and I mean badly!!  I seem to want to add it to everything that I knit nowdays!!!  The top photo is a baby blanket that I've done for a friend of the DH's at church.  Hope she likes it!!

I've also managed to snag some prizes from Seasons of  Lace this spring!!  I can't wait to see what they look like, up close and personal!!!  I've got stitch markers that are on a necklace coming from Prolonged Sunlight  and can't wait to see them!!!
And I've got yarn coming from Jimmy Beans Wool!!!!!  How cool is all of that!!!!

I've been doing some samples for the LYS, Wool and Cotton Shop and have been giving classes there!!! The PI Sweater is for there and it's going to be in pattern form soon!!   It's a pretty cool place to hang out!!! LOL!!!!

:D Carla

Playing with PI

This was the original try at Me-Maw's Garden!!  It was a smaller than what I really wanted, I didn't have enough to finish all the repeats of the final increase.  I also used a crochet edging on this version.

This was the final version.  It's enormous!!  I used 1500 beads on the final pattern and a knit on edge.                                                               Then i just started playing around.  This one is 42 inches across and lots of fun!!

And this one was just pure fun!! 

As you can see they all are PI shawls and they all have the same central motif...  Just goes to show where you can go when you just go crazy!!!!  LOL!!

:D Carla

I've got a pattern on Ravelry!!!!

I finally got a pattern up and posted on Ravelry!!  It's just for a block for an afghan, but I'm thrilled!!!!  It's already been faved!!!  If you're as addicted to Ravelry as I am you understand what I just said!! 

My DD and SIL got me a charting software for a late Mom's day and I'm having FUN!!!  I'm working my way up to my shawl patterns, but when I can get them as polished as I want them, I'm going to start selling them on Ravelry!!!  The software can be found here:
http://www.intwinedstudio.com/
It is really awesome!!  And the designer is on Ravelry and answers questions!!!!  I'm in heaven!!!  I was not born in the computer generation and most of this is gibberish to me....... I can even get this to work!!!! 
I'm working on finishing a display shawl for the class I'm going to be teaching at my LYS this summer on Pi Shawls.  It's called "Me-Maws Garden" after my Mom who could make a stick bloom!!!!!

This is the first one I did while I was working on the pattern.  It has a simple crochet border and , even though you can't see them in the pic over 1500 beads on the last pattern.  The one I'm working on now will be a little bigger (this one is 48 inches across) and will have a knit on border and is in a wonderful color called "surf" with green beads!!  I'm going to be offering this one in my Etsy store as soon as I can get some better pics!!  This is one of the patterns that I'm trying to  learn enough to get it ready to sell.  It would help if DD and SIL we're in Germany, since they're my computer go-to people!!!!  I'm really lost without them.  LOL!!!

Now it's back to work for me!!!!!!