My Sister's Knitter

The Sunday Post...

Well hello there! It is Sunday.

Look who finished her Halloweenie socks in plenty of time. They are squishy, don't they look squishy? I have already worn them around the house and these are just fantastic. I knit them in a my basic sock pattern: cast on 64, classic heel and round toe. These sock were part of a KAL for Knitabulls Sept/Oct Self-Striping and Personal Sock Yarn Club for the Traveling Sock Knitters.

Still in the KAL theme, I have cast on my October socks for The Sock Knitters Anonymous group and Solid Socks group. It may seem that I am KAL'ing all over the place, which I am. Joining in on this fun has allowed me to discover new designers and knit with yarns that have been sitting in my stash for far too long.  Bonus, I end up with some great socks at the end of it all. :)

You may be thinking that all I knit is socks, but in fact I have something non-sock related on the needles. I know, don't faint. The sister put in a request for a cowl. You can tell from the pic that the yarn is thick and the needle size 9! Many who know me, know this is not the norm for me. It feels like I am knitting with two boat oars. I like skinny yarn and skinny needles, but that's just me. Although, I can see the allure of knitting something like this, as it is knitting up fairly quick.

In the food department I am gearing up for Fall, despite the fact that it is still in the 90s here. I choose to pretend. So this weekend I fired up the dutch oven and made this soup. I have made it before so I won't share the pics. It really is a perfectly simple and rustic soup. Then..I made this pie!

 

Really...we have knitting, soup and pie, my Fall dream is coming true! If you would like to pretend with me then enjoy this song or go visit Kate for her week of leaves.

 

 

 

Happy Fall!

XO

Andi

 P.S. A couple of people have asked about the stitchmaker, they are Downton Abbey stitchmarkers from this lovely shop on Etsy!

 

Sweet and simple Sunday

It has been one of those Sundays. Where you just enjoy the moment. Little things like a clean home, fresh sheets on the bed, and the smell of something baking in the oven. That's when I let out a big ..Ahhhh. 

The knitting mojo was a bit laxed this week. Thankfully it wasn't completely gone. Worked just a bit on my socks. Maybe it's the heat, but it is slow going in the knitting department right now.

Or maybe it is the dreams of Fall and Winter, which isn't helped along by the new KnitPicks Catalog that came in the mail. How I love me some gray and white!

The heat here in Arizona hasn't stopped me from cranking on the oven. I made this insanely good soul- filling casserole. The creamed sweet corn  put me off at first, but I am telling you this is a must try. Thanks Mom for the recommendation!

Even with the knowledge of a  Monday on the horizon, this Sunday has been sweet. I will leave you by sending you away to be inspired by some amazing projects and things around the web. Enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful week!

• Love this post from Raina.
• These brought back so many memories of my youth. The adult version looks just as exciting as the ones I carried around in my kid purse.  
• Ruth's blanket has helped me find my desire to finish up older WIPS.
• Feeding my love of knitted socks, Jesse knit up these beauties.  
• Great way to start of a Year of Socks, Bethany!
• How about some shawl love? Maryse's is knit up in the most lovely grey. Sam's Citron is knit up in one of my new favorite dyer's yarn. Yum!

 

XO

Andi

 

A weekend FO and some loves...

Even with a case of startitis, things are coming off the needles. Came as a surprise to me as well.

These are my Simple Skyp socks, which I named Sir Isaac Lime. That is my favorite flavor of Otter Pops.

The yarn is Socks that Rock light weight in Lemongrass. This was my first time using STR and I fear I want to knit many more socks with this fabulous yarn. It is wicked Squooshy!

In celebration of casting off a pair off socks, it seemed only right that another jumped on the needles. Of course the yarn is bright and stripey, it is what I have been craving lately. And I am not the only one, Claudia and I have been having fun enabling each other with new shops carrying self-striping yarn.

Sorry for the blurry pic. My camera was not liking all that color explosion. I will brag more about this yarn next week.

How about some loves? Feels like a while since I have shared some. I am sure it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it. First  salad that I can't get enough of.

Just a simple tomato, cucumber,red onion,feta and balsamic vinegar salad. I can eats buckets full and I do!

Now how about some loves from blogland..let's go!

• Oh my gosh Becky, take a look at her shawl. Jody...wow. Are you drooling right now, because I am.
• Sam's scarf has me thinking I need to make one of these.
• I have been waiting excitedly for each new posting of Robin's crazy quilt's stitches. Seriously, scroll down and you will see each fantastic one. Robin has become a dear friend, we share a love for Colorado where she lives and where I grew up. She posted an excerpt of a letter she sent to her brother about the devastation our lovely state is experiencing. It makes me cry.
• I will be casting on this lovely hat, which is modeled by the even lovelier Andrea.
• The Ishbel pattern never seems to go out of style. Everyone has knit one and some many. I on the other hand none. After seeing Cassy's (great blog name!), I feel destined to add it to my ever growing list.

There you go. Bet you fell in love at least once with all those beauties. I am off to do some knitting and preparing to cry after watching this movie tonight. Hope you are all safe, sound and happy!

XO

Andi

Weekend coming to a close...

Just when I feel like I am starting to get into the groove of the weekend, it is Sunday night. I guess the key is to be grateful that I have a job to go to tomorrow, somehow that eases the pain. :)

New socks have been started. These socks look like they should have been my Easter socks. They remind me of little girl's Easter dresses.

These bright footies are having the last toe grafted in a few short minutes. Yippee. Love the color. Had I know the yarn would have been so stripey, I probably would have knit a pair of vanilla socks. Regardless they are still fantastic and I love the pattern.

Other than socks, other knitting/crocheting has been going on. The progress is not too noticeable or else I would show you the pics. Maybe next weekend I will be able to post about some finished things. Wouldn't that be cool? I have really been trying to focus on getting my WIPs down to a more manageable number like five. I know there are some of you that may feel faint at the thought of having five WIPS, but I still like you. :)

What else? The usual weekend stuff, cleaning and cooking. Oh, have I ever shared with you my favorite comfort food of all? To me it is like a grown up version of Mac and Cheese, Greek style.

It has a rich feta sauce which has white wine, garlic, tomatoes, onions, and shrimp. I would share the recipe but it came out of a cookbook that I cannot link because it was written to raise funds for a Children's Hospital in NV and  I wasn't able to find it online. It is kind of like this recipe, but without olives.Anyhoo, nothing tastes more like heaven to me that this dish. Do you have one certain dish that brings comfort to you? Please share if you do, it is nice to share. heh.

Enjoy a nice Sunday song. Hope this post finds you all settling down with your knitting and happily ready to face Monday!

 

XO

Andi

 

It's Monday, how about some love?

Happy Monday peeps! I know, I know...it's Monday, what is there to be happy about? How about some finished items?

My swap socks are finished. The pattern is Shur'tugal. A great pattern with enough detail to keep your attention. Now to pick up some goodies  for my swap partner.

My Hedgerow socks came off the needles are well. I mentioned earlier that the pattern was a bit boring, but they served as a nice change from the Shur'tugals. The yarn was a gift from my friend, and once it came in the mail I knew it would be perfect for this pattern. Socks are done!

What's next? Not sure yet, I am really trying hard not to cast on anything new and focus my attention on items that are currently on the needles. This has been difficult considering all the temptations in blog land.

• Helena's projects always seem to find their way on my list. Her Nuvem has me reeling!
• Oh Lori, what are you doing to me with this shawl? So many lovely blues being knit up lately.
• A new blogger to me, Jesse hooked up this wonderful blanket.
• Trying to stop myself from buying their entire stock of yarns. I may or may not have already purchased some. Ok I did! I will share with you soon.
• Check out these fantastic book ends. I have grabby-hands!  
• Thanks to Allison I have a new beverage for the summer (below).

In other news thank you all for you nice comments on my giveaway. Due to the amount of responses, I won't be replying to each comment, just know that I appreciate them! My fingers are crossed for you all. Remember you have till April 5th to enter!

I am outta here to enjoy some back episodes of this show. Do you remember this show? I love seeing Marilyn knitting at her desk. She makes me laugh. Happy yarning everyone.

XO

Andi  

Weekend Progress...

What a wonderful weekend for knitting. Our weather here in Arizona has been up and down lately, we went from 85 on Friday to 58 today. Truth be told I really live in the wrong state because I would be the happiest woman alive if it would stay at 58. In the spirit of the cooler temps, the WIPs have been progressing.

 

Here is my WIP basket. In your face!!! Heh- didn't mean for the picture to be so "in your face" but it is and there is no going back. Because soon after the pic was taken, WIPs were taken out and being working on.

 

My swap socks are coming along. Now I love a challenging pattern, but I am about done with left twists and right twists.

 

 

Hedgerows have been getting some work done as well this weekend. While the pattern is a tad boring, they are a nice break from the left and right twists of my swap socks.

 

Ah, and look who else came out to play this weekend. She was a bit pissed at me for letting her languish so long in the WIP basket, but all was well again after I knit quite a few rows  during movie watching.

 

Sock scraps have been worked into little grannies. Not really into the hexipuff craze, so I figured why not have little grannys for whenever the mood strikes.

 

From the looks of it, you would have thought that I never left the house. I did if only for a quick trip for some lovely spring flowers and cookies!

 

Be warned really good cookies that come in a bucket are never a good thing when you live alone. Hmm...why does my stomach hurt?

I mentioned movie watching while I worked on my shawl. I watched the movie The Beginners. How is it I forget how much of a crush I have on Ewan till I see him in a new flick? Other than Ewan being wicked cute, this movie was really good. I also watched One Day, man was I on a cute guys weekend watching thing or what? Maybe it was a hot guys with accents thing.

As if I haven't overlaoded you with enough images for one post, look what just happened outside!

A wee bit of hail. It happened for only 20 seconds and now it is already melted-boo.

Now that I have talked your ears off, I will let you get on with your knitting/crocheting and I will get on with mine. See you back here in a couple of days for a giveaway-whoot whoot!

 

XO

Andi

 

Starting the weekend...

It is Saturday peeps !

I have so much that I need to get accomplished this weekend, so much I don't know where to start. So in typical Andi weekend style I will start with some blog reading, breakfast, and a few stitches ( because I like to multi-task).

On the subject of breakfast, the above pictured porridge has been my everyday morning grub for a couple weeks. I make this recipe on Sunday night and it is enough for  me to have a bowl everyday. I add a lot of different toppings depending on what I have on hand. This morning I had some bananas, apples and walnuts. During the week I had some wonderfully sweet blackberries-yum! A bowl keeps me going well into lunch and helps me not to snack in between meals.

These socks are being finished, I am on the last toe! This means my pair will be done by the deadline-take note Jody (inside joke).Even with the end of the month fast approaching I decided to cast on another pair of socks with the beautiful gifted yarn from my friend Maryse.

The pattern is Hedgerow, while it is not an exciting knit, I think it shows off this lovely yarn perfectly.

Okay, now I really need to get my butt in gear and get some chore done. I will leave you with a video that Kiwiyarns Knits shared on her blog. It makes me laugh out loud.

Have a great weekend everyone!

XO

Andi  

Need To Be Enabled?

No problem...how about some lovely yarn from an Indie dyer?

I know, right? One of my goals this year was to purchase sock yarn from only Indie Dyers. I saw this yarn knit up into some wonderful Monkeys by Gail, and it didn't take long before I had some of my own. While I was visiting See Jayne Knit'sshop, some stitch markers jumped into my cart, not sure how that happened but I am glad they did. heh!

I just love me some cute stitch markers. If you decide to take a look at See Jayne Knit Yarn, all I have to say is good luck. You will want everything!

Oh, look what else I got. I have been waiting for these to come out for a couple of months.

Hiya Hiya Sharps! Most of my needles are Hiya Hiya, I am glad to add these to my collection. They are perfectly lightweight and the joins are  smooth.  Within minutes of receipt, these were holding a new scarf pattern.

As if all the lovelies above are not enough, how about some enabling links?

• I want one of these tote bags. How cute would they be carrying my knitting projects?
• I think these salts would be perfect for seasoning a nice piece of fish or veggies.
• Swooning over these socks!
• Enjoying meeting a new sweet friend and enjoying her blog.
• In awe over the talents of someone so young.
• New scarf pattern from an inspiring designer.

 

It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Pour yourself a glass of wine and go visit. You will be glad you did.

Have a great rest of your week!

XO

Andi

Are you ready...

...for some football?

It is one of my very favorite times of the year. I am soooo ready! Even if my team is not in the SuperBowl, boo.

The menu is overall not too harmful.

• Veggies and dip
• Hummus and pita bread
• Relish tray
• Mini meat tray
• Gas station nachos. You know the kind with the pump cheese (okay, so you gotta have some bad food)
• lots of beer! 
          

I will not be running short on projects to work on since the WIP list seems to be busting at the seams. Will you be watching? If football isn't your thing, what do you do on SuperBowl day? Maybe take advantage of some shopping?

So in none football news, I got a little suprise in the mail from a dear friend. It was unexpected to say the least.

I can't do this lovely bag justice, with my overcast weather, so here are some images from the brilliant Dawn herself. Dawn's beautiful crochet work has always inspired me. Bonus that we became such good friends. I will toot my own horn and say, I sure  know how to pick them!

Well loves I am off to enjoy the game ,some good grub, and of course funny commercials!

Enjoy your Sunday!

XO

Andi  

 

Part two of FOs...

The sister was gracious enough to be my model, so that I could display my 2nd finished object of the week.

Thankfully the weather cooperated by being overcast, giving the day the feel of a chilly winter's day.

Pattern: Pasha by Jane Richmond
Yarn : Cascade 220 sport in Natural

In addition to be a cute model, the sister was a good sport about it. Not to say that her services were free. Payment was made via lunch and one of the requirements was a nice Lager.  I guess you can say it was a win for me as well.

Don't worry, we did not have a liquid lunch, there was some food involved. Boy was there ever! I am sorry I didn't take a picture of it  but let me tell you, it involved a burger with a pretzel bun and sweet potato tots. Too incredible, which explains why there is no picture, it was devoured without so much as a thought of capturing it for your viewing pleasure. Sorry.

So there you go the second finished object this week. This is definitely not the norm for me, so I can't get too excited.

I will leave you with some wonderful things that caught my attention this week in blogland, enjoy!

• These fabulous knee socks from Helena.
• There is something about Raina's photos that make want to knit. She could take a picture of food and I want to knit, eat better, looks better. and on and on.  Can't explain!
• Michelle's adorable finished object. Bonus, after knitting an object like this that it look that cute on.
• I have been listening to Podcasts a lot lately. The vary from the Naked Scientist to Cast on. A new one is from Andrea and her friend Mary. It is so much fun, it is like being at your knitting group with your friends.

 

Hope you are having/had a wonderful weekend that involved yarn and good food!

XO

Andi