Top-down Sleeves with Magic Loop, Bruce's Sweater

First picture:  Knitting the sleeve on Bruce's sweater using the magic loop technique.  Second pictures:  Blocking the back of Bruce's sweater using the home-made cardboard and old towels wooly board.

Trying Out New Fair Isle Sweater Design

This is a design I am trying out.  The design is based on Anne's Fietelson's book design, Hillswick.  It is done in Caron Simply Soft using double point Denise needles, size 6.  This is a sleeve.

Repotting African Violets

These pictures show the repotting of our collection of 300 African violets.  Bruce is handy with hose!  He is sterilizing and rinsing trays and grids.  The close-ups are of a new cultivar for us this year, Love in Bloom.  We repot once a year in the fall.  It takes 2 1/2 weeks.  The space we use is our plant room.  It is actually a second kitchen in our home.

 

Travel to the Parks

My husband, Bruce, says that I need at least one photo from our five and half week trailer trip, so here is one taken in the Grand Tetons.

Seaside Fair Isle Sweater Completed

The sweater I designed and knitted, which I call the Seaside Sweater was completed yesterday.  I have posted some photos.  It is made of sport weight acrylic yarn.

African Violets at our House

Besides knitting, my other enthusiasm is for growing African Violets.  Here are some photos of our second kitchen on the lower level of our house that we use as a plant room.

New Design for Sweater for Bruce

My husband liked the sweaters I have knit so far and asked for a button down sweater with "lots of color".  He like the nautical design of my "seaside" sweater, so I am knitting one for him.  The photo s show the unblocked back piece.  Some photos were taken before and some after we left on a 5 1/2 week trip to the parks, including Yellowstone, with our 34 ft. Airstream travel trailer.  I organized all of my colored yarn so that I could knit on the long drive out to the parks.

 

Third Fair Ise Sweater

I call this sweater design "Sylvia's Seaside Sweater".  The photo is of one of the front pieces being blocked.  The sweater is a cardigan, now nearly completed.  I am working on the last sleeve.

Second Fair Isle, Slip Stitch and Intarsia Sweater

This is my favorite sweater so far.  I designed it to feature silhouettes of our family cat and my daughter's two cats.  I drew their pictures on grid paper, then transferred the design to a spread sheet for use as a knitting pattern.  The border patterns are a combination of slip stitch and Fair Isle.

Julie likes the sweater and models it here.  She is a college professor and finds that there are days when the central heating does not work in their building.  The sweater should be cosy!  I finished it in June 2006.

First Fair Isle Sweater

This is the first Fair Isle sweater I knitted.  It was started in February 2006.  I designed the cardigan style and modified a Fair Isle pattern of Wendy Hanson by changing the color, yarn, and usage.