Fall, Finally!

It appears that Fall has finally made it to this part of Montana. The days are getting cooler and the nights are getting colder. They are forecasting that Friday and Sunday are days we could see some snow....burrrrr! The great news is that the winter woolies will soon be worn again and I'm feeling the urge to block and seam my Rogues sleeves. Yes, it's still in storage, no I haven't finished it yet.

Unfortunately with the return of Fall my tomato plants are not longer producing, so the 5 tomatoes sitting on my counter are the last of the yummy deliciousness until next year. It's almost enough to make me want to cry.

I've finally caught up on CSI Miami and am now watching the current season as it plays on CBS. Of course this means I need a new show to watch. In comes my mom talking about NCIS and a USA marathon of the show to get me hooked. So now my Netflix queue is full of NCIS disks and I now have 6 seasons to keep me busy. Season 7 is currently playing on CBS right now.

I've done a little knitting and have a bit to show you all this week. Some of it's test/sample knits that I can now show you and others are mine. I'll just apologize in advance for all the not so great pictures. Most of them were taken during cloudy, nasty days.

I can show you the big blue test knit that I was working on for Madelinetosh.

It's Tribeca (Rav)(non Rav) knit using Tosh Worsted. Easy pattern with moss stitchy goodness (yes I'm crazy, I like Moss St) and soft, squishy yarn, what more you you ask for? If you want to see a better picture, head over to Amy's blog post for a peak. If you're interested in the pattern or the yarn you can find them at Woolgirl. The yarn is soft and has a nice twist and the colors are beautiful. I'll be getting some of this yarn in the near future.

A pair of Dimpled Socks (Rav)(non Rav) for Madelinetosh.

I knit these using Madelinetosh's sock yarn. The color is Oxblood and it's yummy but a little difficult to take pictures of when it's cloudy out. Follow one of the links above the pic to see what the sock pattern looks like. The pattern has been out for awhile but I worked them with a few tweaks in the pattern.

A sample knit for Woolgirl.

The yarn is Madelinetosh sock and the color is Fig. I do believe that this yarn is the September shipment for the Magnolia Society yarn club. The pattern is Interlocking Leaves (Rav)(non Rav) from Knitty. I really liked this sock pattern and will be making a pair for myself in the near future.

Kaity's A-Line Coat (Rav)(non Rav) in all it's "in pieces" glory.

I've been working on this in between sample knits. When my hands need a break from small needles I pick this coat up to work on. I need to get it finished since it's starting to cool off now. The big piece is the back and then I have one front piece finished and although it doesn't look like it, I'm about halfway through the other front piece. The pattern isn't bad but it could have been a little better written. I'm not big on patterns that leave out details like diagrams to save on space. I'm one of those people who think that diagrams with measurements on it are helpful. Maybe I'm just crazy and am expecting to much. The pattern is one page, front only. Why couldn't they have given just a tad more detail and used a second page?

A pair of socks for Kaity.

I knit these with the leftover Berroco Sox. They are plain jane socks knit toe up, two at a time, magic loop. I think I prefer making Kaity's socks two at a time, toe up. I always end up making one sock smaller then the other when I don't knit them at the same time which drives me crazy everytime I see them! There is still enough yarn left to knit a pair of socks for Bree. Note these socks do not come close to matching. I knit from the inside and outside of the ball so the striping is reversed.

I started another pair of socks for Kaity.

These are being knit with some Regia bamboo sock yarn my mom bought for Kaity quite some time ago. Look Ma, I'm finally knitting those socks.  ;~)

I'm one of those people that lets sock yarn marinate in the stash for awhile before knitting with it. They're the same as the last few I made, two at a time, toe up. Since I'm currently not in any need for new socks (I have like 16 pair) Kaity is the lucky recipient. As if she's sitting there complaining about new handknit socks. She does a happy dance each time I toss a new pair of socks at her. She's even happier now that it's getting cold enough to wear them.

Finally a teaser shot.

This is one of the projects I'm currently working on for Madelinetosh. I'll post more about it when I can.

The girls are all geared up for Halloween. We managed to catch both costumes on sale this year. There are some good things about them putting the stuff up early. It means that they start marking down the stuff earlier too. Shoot I even made out like a bandit buying the candy the other day at ShopKo. I picked up the big bags that are normally around $7 something each for the lovely price of 2 bags for $8. Can't argue with those kind of savings.

The other good news is that we've completed just about all of the Christmas shopping for both of the girls. Most of it's sitting on Layaway at K-Mart. It'll stay there until it has to be picked up in early Dec. We still have a few small things to get but for the most part we're done. Shawn's gift will most likely be a Palm. He really wants a new one.

I'll leave you with a shot of my little monkey.

Happy Crafting Everyone!