Making

 So we have this barn here in town that a great interior designer owns.  In the past few years she has started organizing house sales and consignment items for her barn. She works at the local college and has her interns stage the barn with the latest design techniques.  She holds the barn open once a month, has food, drink and music and lets us all shop to our hearts content.  

My last buy was the frame above.  I have been wanting to work with chalkboard paint for a while and needed something that would cover all the dings and nicks on the wall.

I thought this was the project for me!  Little did I know, how involved my husband was going to get.  This was a project with his name written all over it.  So, he cut the wood, painted and screwed in hooks so tight that it will never move off that wall.

Viola, a chalkboard to rival  Pottery Barn at a fraction of the cost!

Since he has finished, he has stopped at two local garage sales and has three more frames set to paint.  I think I see a future on Etsy for him.

Making...

Oh my gosh!  I must apologize!  I held a contest on my blog and then went away for awhile!  Totally unfair to you all that left such nice comments.

The winner, picked by the surly, wonderful fifteen year old is Kristina!

Kristina, shoot me your address in an email and I will get your yarn off to you!!

As you can see I finished another pair of socks.

This pair I started way back in March of 2011!!

They sat languishing in my knitting basket until I finally found some energy to knit the other sock.  Not sure why it took so long, because once I started it was completed three days later!

Specs can be found on Ravelry.  But give me a few minutes as I have to locate the ball-band with all the information!

Currently, I'm working on this sweater.  It will be completed and then packed away for next winter. It's working up fast now that I'm concentrating on it exclusively.

I need to make the rounds to see what you are all working on!  

See you all soon!

Making...

 There has been a lot of making going on since last week, but I don't have anything that is quite finished to show yet.

A sock that's almost there and a new knitting bag is being worked on.

I have some flannel that I want to make into lounge pants. My timing always stinks, finishing something at the end of the season.  But then I pack it away, with little use and when I pull out again, it's like I have a brand new item.  Mind games work wonders on me!

Tomorrow's forecast is snow, after two gloriously warm days.  Knowing this, I got out for a walk early.  Not much color here in our neck of the world, but I did notice my crocuses were struggling to bloom this morning.  

I have nothing to complain about.  This winter was easy compared to last.  Bring on the warm weather!

PS...I forgot...I made bread yesterday.

Making....

Hold on to your hats and have a seat! People, we have actual knitting content here at Upper Pond!

One of my goals for 2012 is to knit from the stash.  I have some good yarns sitting under my bed that need to be made into some goodness! Plus, I have items that have been sitting in my to-do basket just begging me to finish them.  Two out of the three finished items were knit from the stash!  I think I'm off to a good start!

 The brown hoodie is finally completed!

You might remember Matt's green one just like it.

 Ryan has worn it non-stop! So much so, that it's all ready pilling.  He loves it and that makes me a happy mom!

 I used Cascade 220 superwash.  It was the first time I used a superwash on a sweater this size.  I won't lie and tell you I wasn't a bit nervous to throw into the washer...but I did and it came out super soft and fluffy!

 Next up: Norby by Jared Flood.

I love, love, love this hat.  

Usually, I can't say that about the hats I knit.  

I did discover that I'm a fan of the slouchy hat!  

 This one was knit from the stash.  A couple of skeins of alpaca that I picked up at an alpaca farm around here!  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It's more blue than brown.  My photographer had to take this before he went to school and the lighting was poor.

It still needs another tassel and maybe a light blocking. But, in my book, it's done!

 Lastly, I started these socks in October.  Right when hockey season started.  It fell into the typical one-sock-syndrome and sat in the basket for awhile.  

I'm really not fond of the color and have no idea why I bought this colorway.

Matt told me they look like a snake print. 

They are however, really soft.  I lost the ballband (of course I did) and I think there might be some silk in these babies!

I did manage to make a ruffle scarf out of Kid's Silk Haze Creation.  I have never jumped on the ruffle bandwagon before, and really don't intend to ever again.  The scarf looks like a big boa and probably will look lovely with a LBD.  But, at the moment I don't anticipate any parties where LBDesses will be worn.

Due to some quirky ordering, I ended up with another skein of KSHC.  The color is black and I will never use it.  SO, if you want it, leave a comment, tell me what you are knitting and I'll throw all the names in a hat and pick a winner.  You just might end up with a special surprise thrown in!

I will close the contest next Wednesday, March 8th!

So what's next? I have another pair of socks to finish up, which I started in the 2010 hockey season and a sweater that I started in 2010.  Both items, I'm looking forward to picking up again.  I love the sweater and have since realized how to interpret the instructions on which I was stuck! It only took two years to wrap my head around it, but I finally got it!

If you need any additional details, stop on over at Ravelry and you will find all that you need to know!

Happy knitting!

Making...

I wish I had pictures of the two items that I made this holiday season.  One item was a plain 1x1 ribbed hat for my brother.  He lives in Dallas, so I can probably count on one hand how many times he's going to wear it.  I made it with that brown and white alpaca/wool mix up in the picture.  It's really soft and will do the job while he's out walking the dog.  

Next up was the Gap cowl for my sister who lives in New York City.  She's a nanny and requested a chunky scarf, that wasn't itchy, to wear at the playground with her charges.

I wasn't sure about this pattern as I knit it, but when it was all completed, I was sold.  The best part was, she loved it!  It was just what she wanted.  

Still working on this hoodie, only in brown.  Can you say boorrriiinnnggg?  

Lastly, did you see this today?  I want to make everything.

Making...

I finally made a hat.

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions.

I started out making Habitat, but had to rip it out a few times and thought that it was a sure sign that it was not meant to be at this moment. I will come back to it...when it's quiet and peaceful...maybe January.

It's a design by Jared Flood.  

The yarn is Cascade 220 heathers.

I think next time I might make it a bit smaller as it's a bit slouchy.  I'm not one for slouchy.

Oh, and I've made this and this last week.  Both were well received and will be made again.

What are you making?

Making...

I'm currently making socks.  Boring, stockinette, socks. Last week, I was on my way out the door to hockey practice and realized I needed something to keep me busy and away from all the hockey drama.  I'm not even sure what kind of sock yarn it is, having lost it's ball band long ago.

So, I need your help.  I want to make a cool hat for a special friend that helped me out this weekend while I was away in New York City.  She had to watch Matt and his friend, and two others.  But the real gift that she helped me with was to get Matt to his team bus by 5 AM.  This woman deserves a whole sweater for having this thrown upon her.

She's a funky, down-to-earth sorta gal.  I'm thinking berets are out and beanies are in.

Any suggestions?  What are your favorite hat patterns?

Enjoy the colors! I missed the blue sky and orange leaves this weekend, but was thankful I could wear shorts and tee-shirts while in the city.  

 This is the real color!  No saturation or vibrance touch-ups at all!

Making...

...autumn!

Took a ride around the lake today to my favorite farm.  I wish the sheep were a bit closer to the road, but they were in the back field.  All except the few up front and they were cranky and did not want their picture taken!  

The leaves are just starting to turn.  In a few more weeks things will be ablaze!

My knitting isn't very exciting to show and I haven't made any wonderful treats that would inspire.  

Instead, enjoy the pictures from my small spot in the world, it's a fabulous place to be this time of year.

Making

I made a baby sweater.

It's purple, although it looks blue in the picture.

It's for a friend's first baby...a baby girl.

I highly recommend this pattern.

It's quick and easy.

Add it to your go-to baby items today.

 All information is over at Ravelry.

 Off to start another baby gift.....

Seems as if people are very fertile around here lately!

Making

I bet you thought I wasn't a knitter anymore. It seems like forever since I last posted a project. So here is:

the Abby cardi

by:

Cecily Glowik MacDonald

All important details can be found over at Ravelry.

I love this Quince yarn. It's soft and lightweight. It is their sock yarn so just imagine how long it took to knit this little number up.

I will wear this sweater a lot this coming fall. It's perfect for that slight chill in the air kind of day.

However, if I were to do it again I would make a size up or maybe two. For once this pattern was true to size. A XS is really tiny (or maybe I've just grown and don't want to admit it) and would love to have it a bit more slouchy.

The arms are a bit tight too. A light tee is all that could be worn underneath.

The pattern was well written and easy to follow. I was worried I wasn't going to have enough yarn, so I made the arms 3/4 and probably could have knit the body a bit longer.

I also used the stockinette side whereas, the pattern called for reverse stockinette.

It sounds as if I don't like this sweater, but I really do. It will receive heavy rotation in the coming months as the cold settles in.

Now on to two baby sweaters...gift knitting is never ending!

Making...memories

I'm afraid the blogging is going to be a little hit or miss around here this summer. The boys are keeping me active (in the car) and I'm trying to stay away from the computer. I've already finished two books and have started to pack for a trip away. I hope you are enjoying your summer and I will try to pop in when I have a few interesting tidbits. I'm sure you don't need to know about me driving the boys to baseball yet again.

Fun times on the lake.

My man-child. It's funny that I use this term. The Jungle Book movie was on heavy rotation when the boys were little. I keep thinking of Matt walking into the village at the end because he's hot for the girl....sigh....I hate this growing up thing.

One of my pictures was used to help advertise a new magazine in our city. Might be a job opportunity.

Fireworks....at the neighbors. Oh yeah...I'm sure there were some in our neighborhood that were not happy. Oh well!

Nights with good friends.

enjoy the rest of the week everyone!

Making

New day-new chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Ryan has declared them excellent!

Matt won't stray from the Toll House recipe! He's a creature of habit, that kid.

Slice and bake cookies! Dough can be made ahead of time and frozen. Pop them out when you need them.

Delicious!

And then I did a study of cheese curls.

Not much else to do on a cold, gloomy, June day!

enjoy the cookies!