Progress

This afternoon I finished the fourth strip of the plaid afghan that I have been working on and seamed it to the others. I am very pleased with how it is turning out. I think one more strip will make it wide enough.


I have also made considerable progress on the Persephone Scarf.

Another Cake

This evening I received a call, asking if I knew how to do a Dr. Suess themed cake. I checked Wilton.com to see if they had any Dr. Suess character cake pans, but they did not have anything. Then I started looking for graphics I could find online. I actually found instructions for making cakes that looked like The Cat in the Hat's hat, but they both have issues. This cake is for my niece's birthday party, and there are likely to be a lot of kids there, along with their parents, so I am looking at making a fairly good sized cake--probably a sheet cake of some kind. One of the ones starts with a 13 x 9 inch cake and then cutting it to the shape of the hat. I could probably do that with a sheet cake too, but I am not sure I want to. The other cake involves stacking four layers and making it look like the hat. That would be cool, but I would have to transport it in pieces and assemble it on site.

So back to the graphics. When I took Course I, I learned how to do pattern transfers. What you do is put the picture under parchment paper, make an outline on the paper using piping gel, than flip the parchment paper onto the cake piping gel side down. Then you go over it on the outlines on the cake and fill it in. I have found one image so far that seems reasonable, but maybe I will see about coloring books this weekend or see about getting a copy of one of the books.

Hmm..maybe this is what I will do for my friend Tim's dragon cake later this year.

FO--Fifth Pair of Socks

I finished up my fifth pair of socks last Friday, while at the pub. I think they turned out really well.


I washed them today and am wearing them as I type. I know I should get back to other projects, but I feel the urge to start another pair. I have quite a bit of Regia sock yarn, including four colorways of the Kaffe Fassett Design Line, and I also two colorways of Brown Sheep Company's Wildfoot sock yarn.

Squee!

When I signed into Ravelry this evening, I saw I had a new message. So I go to my message box, and I found a request to feature my photo on the page for Cable Throw by Claire Crompton.



This picture has all 8 of the cables called for by the pattern, but it is not wide enough for my liking. I am thinking I will repeat most of the cables and attach them in reverse order so the Ripple and Rock is the center panel.

Now back to the socks.

An Update

Okay, so I have been really bad about updating my blog. For a while I was too busy knitting. Then I was too fatigued to even knit.

Once I was well enough to knit again, I made some progress on the cabled afghan.


I also ended up starting over on the latest pair of socks, but now they match up really well.



I finished turning the heels last night, so now it is on to the feet and toes. I am also thinking about working on the Persephone Scarf some more.

Afghans, Scarves, and Socks, Oh My!

Well, my favorite barrista called in last Wednesday, so I still do not have my size 8 needles back. I did finish another strip of the plaid afghan and seamed them together. I started the third strip this morning and have finished one pattern repeat so far, and I may be able to finish another pattern repeat this evening. The original pattern calls for five pattern repeats, but I am doing six so it is longer. With the two strips seamed together, it is reasonably wide, so I may only need to do another two strips once I finish the one I am working on.

Before the latest cold snap, I started the Persephone Cable Scarf by SmarieK. I am using Brown Sheep Company Nature Spun in Deep Sea. After working on the cabled afghan, I have become used to cabling without a cable needle by holding the stitches in between my thumb and forefinger. I have tried it a bit, but it does not seem to be working as well, so when I go back to working on the scarf, I will probably resort to my trusty flying bird cable needle.

Last Friday at the pub, I started another pair of socks. I am using Schoeller und Stahl Fortissima Sockotta. While the labels indicated they were the same color, I am wondering if one of the yarns was incorrectly labeled. Looks like they are going to be another pair of Dobby Socks.

Works in Progress

Now that the weather has been colder, I have been putting more effort into the two afghans I have been working on. I finished the sixth strip of the cabled throw and seamed the next three strips together.


The original pattern called for a bulkier yarn on bigger needles, but I wanted to use the Red Heart Dusty Teal I had. I think I will need to either repeat most, if not all of the panels, or add a bunch of different ones.

Last Wednesday I left my size eight needles at Hastings where I go for knitting group. Fortunately, my favorite barrista found them and took them home, so I will get them back tomorrow.

In the meantime I have returned my attention to the Plaid Afghan. So far I have two and a half pattern repeats of the second strip done, and I am thinking I can finish the third pattern repeat this evening.