OLD CROCHET SHAWL PATTERN. . . .

... which I made 4 of as gifts in 1986 and had lost the pattern.
Well, in my clutter of papers & patterns a few weeks ago... "there it was"
At that point I was extremely happy that in fact I DO have lots of papers saved from the beginning of time.
I've started it with some STASH YARN in orange cotton with a poly twist of white running through it.
Here is the work in progress:

FINISHED FEATHER & FAN CARDIGAN. . . .

. . . and I'm now working on a matching short sleeved shell.

FIONA'S 24th BIRTHDAY PARTY - FRIDAY NIGHT June 12th

My friend Fiona, above, had her 24th Birthday Party at the new restaurant we've been going to which opened a month ago - HAAKON'S HALL at 118th Street & Amsterdam Avenue. James the Chef/Owner is a wonderful guy, fun to spend time with besides his wonderful food; hence we go there more often than we would to any other new place. His son Haakon (it's a Swedish name pronounced sorta like Hawken) is also fun to hang out with. He's does demonstrations on his Pottery wheel out front of the restaurant. Unfortunately he will be going back to College in a few weeks for his Senior year so we won't be seeing as much of him as we have been. Asif, our bartender from BBQ is one of the Managers so all-in-all we love going there although we have to drive as it is crosstown & uptown.
The party was fun & here are just a few of the pictures - the entire album can be seen on my Facebook page:

MITERED SHAWL

A few weeks ago I FORGOT to show everyone the Mitered Shawl I knit of Great Adirondack (I have to find the actual
name of this wonderful yarn to post here ASAP) but I used that yarn held together with a pale green Kid Silk Haze for a wonderful 'halo' over the entire shawl with the exception of the ruffled edge on which I left off the Kid Silk Haze in order to
have a bit of a different shade for that section. I created my crocheted edging mostly because I ran out of yarn and didn't want to buy yarn in order to crochet the wider border which I had planned. I LOVE THIS SHAWL as it wraps around me twice and the edge when in two layers really looks good, I think. All in all I really surprised myself with this shawl. It's huge, warm and in a way, lacy although not actually knitted lace. You can click on each image for a larger view of my shawl.

NICHOLAS LOVES HIS HOODIE...

Had dinner with Grandma Pam, her daughter Emily & son-in-law Michael (Nicholas & Celia's Mom & Dad), Aunt Amanda & Grandpa Kenny (Pam's ex) last Friday and gave Nicholas his Hoodie & Funky Blanket.

START OF DRESS FOR CELIA. . .

My friend Pamela's new granddaughter Celia is going to get her knitted gifts from me quicker than her brother Nicholas.
Nicky is already 18 months and has not yet even 'seen' what I've made for him... I procrastinate so.
Here is the start of a 1 year dress which I started for Celia yesterday. I particularly chose this yarn: AUSTERMANN "Algarve Fashion Color" #201. I started this in the 1-year size and since Celia was only born 4 weeks ago I MAY begin another one in a solid color tomorrow in tghe 6 mos size so she can wear it this summer. Hmmmmmmmm yes - that's what I'll do !

HOODIE FOR NICHOLAS. . .

At the same time that I started Nicholas' "funky" blanket I started a sweater. Well, needless to say THAT sweater never got finished again due to procrastination, etc. Ultimately I started another sweater, a "hoodie" for the child in February... and finished it today! Pretty good for me!

((( FUNKY ))) BLANKET FOR NICHOLAS. . .

My oldest (( meaning known her the longest - s m i l e )) friend Pamela's daughter Emily had a baby boy 18 months ago for whom I started a baby blanket. She had said she wanted a "funky" one so I started what I thought to be sorta "funky" from scraps of yarn I had in my STASH (( Y A Y !!! )) - How often can one make a gift from their STASH. Well, It took me 18 months to finish it as I kept putting it aside as I ran out of a color and had to find more colors with which to finish it. Now Emily has already had her 2nd child, a girl Celia for whom I started a dusty pink blanket which I plan to finish by the end of April - the latest.
Here is a picture of Nicholas' blanket.

... BACKTRACKING once more but not as far as the Martha... is the BLANKIE I KNIT FOR JACK

One of our fave waitresses at EJ's, Bridget, was expecting a baby so - not that I don't have enough on my needles, I decided I wanted to knit the baby a Blanket.
Decided on tbe Baby Ripple, a very relaxing stitch to knit which I've done before for
a girl with a ruffled edge. For JACK I decided on the double twist edging in blue and red on the blue blanket. I was very happy with the result.

... gotta backtrack a bit - to the MARTHA cardi

I look at all the things I've knitted... or remember those which I've given away... and realize that I've never really been into 'taking pictures' of my finished projects.
NOT great for a BLOGGER (( smile )). Decided to take a picture of the MARTHA cardigan which I knitted for myself last year; hence I still have it, and post it for all to see. I LOVE IT! Wear it often and wouldn't mind making another one or a similar pattern in a linen blend or cotton blend for "summertime" as it is very comfortable and easy to wear over a T-shirt or sleeveless Tank Dress. This patern is from the Rowan Studio 2 book and made from Filatura Di Crosa ZARA yarn in a yellow/green.

ARLENE'S SWEATER. . . is FINISHED

I still have to make myself come HERE regularly with what I'm doing. Well, today I'm coughing (( haha )).
Stayed home all day to try to get rid of this ASAP. On Monday 2/23 I delivered to Arlene for whom I
knit from time to time - the latest jacket knit in Gedifra - Tabea.
All I can say is that she was very, very pleased with the results and has requested another jacket for summer wear.
This will also be done in yarn which she had purchased (Gedifra - Leola) for which I found a proper pattern to suite
both the yarn & the woman. It is #22 Fold-Back Front Cardigan from the Tahki Yarns book: 24 Simple Weekend Designs.
The gauge matches and Arlene approved of the style. My aim is to try to finish this by the end of March.
Off to work ! (( s m i l e )).

CASCADE SCARF CAL

Joined in on a crochet project CAL with friends from one of my Yahoo Groups. Pirk chose to do the CASCADE SCARF
and I joined in. Here is mine.

In The CLUTTER CLEANING area. . .

. . . . here is a picture of the LIVINGROOM almost (but not quite) clutter-free.

SCARF FOR "Cousin" ANGIE

My cousin Ian whom I had never met before came to visit NYC from 12/22/08 - 1/5/09 with his wife Angela and two wonderful teenage sons Seth & Max. During their stay here they were able to see most of our hangouts Maryann's where Jimmy works in Tribeca (corner West Broadway & Reade Street), Dallas BBQ (3rd Avenue at 73rd Street),
Bounce (2nd Avenue at 73d Street), Tony De Napoli Italian Restaurant (2nd Avenue at 84th Steet).
During their stay I was able to get to know them and now know what I will knit for each of them. I'm posting here the scarf which I started for Angie the day they left NYC and which I finished a bit less than 2 weeks.
Now I just have to make a Beret to go with this scarf, a scarf & cap for Ian, and caps for Seth & Max. Actually Max had a fave cap which he rarely took off during his stay here so I am going to try to duplicate this cap for the boys.