Grandma's Riding Coat

So,
When I came to visit grandma at the beginning of the month and she realized I could knit, even though I had already knit her a Hemlock Throw (Rav. Link), she requested a sweater. On my trip, I had brought along a bunch of my knitting magazines and books, which included the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Debbie Bliss Magazine and right on the cover was a jacke that was perfect for her: The Riding Jacket. So, I went ahead, showed her the magazine and the photo of the jacket and got the approval to go ahead. Well, this meant I needed yarn. Remember my rather large yarn purchase a while back, when I told you I had splurged but that all the yarns had a project in mind. Well the boxes arrived with my beautiful yarns and in it was the Cascade Ecological Wool that was meant for this Riding Coat.

Here's the photo of the colorway I originally posted about earlier in February


The color is Coffee and the yarn is luciously soft... I love it and it's perfect for grandma. She's not the showy type so a nicely colored brown is just what she was looking for. So I went to work and I have to tell you, I never knew that rows upon rows of garter stitch would be so much fun. Not only that, I never in my wildest dreams thought this would be a jacket I would want to make for myself. But, nope everytime I complete one section of the coat, I look at it and say "I have to order more eco wool because this jacket is just too pretty." It's not at all boxy like I thought it would be, nope it has some wonderful waist shaping and flares out at the hips which for grandma is great, but come on imagine it with a pair of skinny jeans.. HELLO! Have to make one in a hot color for me... it's definitely on my list!

So, on a final note I finally have borrowed a normal human digital camera to start taking pictures with. The best part is, I don't have to return it any time soon because the person I borrowed it from (thanks Uncle) already has a newer one and so I might offer to go ahead and buy this one from him! Now, enjoy normal pictures of the Riding Coat... :o)

Pictures of the back and left front:


Look at that hot collar:


Isn't it funny how different knitting can look from a different angle, here's rows and rows of garter stitch at eye level:

FO: Cropped Jacket

Okay, so here it is finally.... (please excuse the pictures, you know I only have a web camera for now)
This is it laying flat:



And this is me wearing it and trying to take crappy web pictures:






STUPID WEB CAM...

I love this jacket, I've worn it twice so far! But, I do have one problem, I need to redo the clasps because they are making the jacket not so pretty, so, they have to be reworked. Other than that, I think it's adorable. I love the color and the military style buttons I found and I would definitely make this again.... I'm thinking in a tweed but probably not until fall.

Why 2010 Has Been Crappy So Far....

So,
We always begin a new year thinking that it will be better than the one that just passed. Unfortunately, 2010 has not been so for me. We start off on New Years Eve and an incident with my husband which I won't get into because we live in a delicate part of the world. In any case, just for clarification no we did not fight there was 3rd party interference and that's all I'll say about that.

Secondly, everything and it's mother just seems to be going wrong. Two days ago, I broke my iPod charger, literally pulled the USB part away from the rest of the charger. I've been sick with a cold forever, no seriously it feels like since January (it goes away and comes back). I've lost my knitting mojo, gotten it back, lost it.. people we're still only in February.

My dad has been ill and had to have his foot amputated due to his diabetes (thank God he's doing better now), but still it's stressful.

And finally the straw that broke the camel's back came yesterday. I have two cats back in NYC who have been staying with my mom. Well, I've had a sinking feeling lately that something was wrong and well, since 2010 has been so awful, I mean come on this couldn't have been right too. So, I'm talking to my mom and I ask her how are the cats. She replies... "What Cats?!" Of course, I'm caught off guard and tell "Mom, that's not funny." She then goes on to explain how she had forgotten my Persian cat outside one day when she went to work, so she must have been stolen. If that didn't cause enough distress, she goes on to tell me how the other cat became vicious after losing her counterpart that she had to give her away. Wait.... there's more. She then explains that this happened a while ago and knowing the crappy year I've been having she didn't want to upset me. Now, I'm wondering, what would have happened had I gone for a visit and not seen my cats... could you imagine the brawl that would have ensued? Wait... there's still more. When I start to cry about my two loving cats, which I adore, she tells me to GROW UP! They're just cats! I've been crying since last night, the cold is back and worse than ever, I have a splitting headache, and basically no one is feeling my pain except of course the loving people on Ravelry! (I love you Rav. members!). You can read my original forum post in Ravelry here.So this is my final rant about the subject because I guess, I just have to keep saying "I guess things could be worse" even though, I honestly don't believe they could be. I can only pray that they went to loving homes and are being taken care of. LuLu and Whitey, I miss you guys so much! I'm so sorry for having left you behind, I wish I could turn back time, I would have known not to leave you alone with someone who really didn't care about you. I know she's my mom, but I'm telling the truth.

That's all for now.
Thanks for listening.

Eight Whole Days

Yep,
It's been 8 whole days since I've posted, but I've had my reasons. They are called the #26 Cropped Jacket (Rav. Link) from Vogue Knitting. Yes it's true, I've been knitting, blocking, sewing, reblocking, resewing my jacket these past 8 days, but I am so happy to report that it is done. That's right D-O-N-E! Can I tell you that I LOVE IT! I know, you're going to ask me where are the picture and I promise you they are coming, but I was too excited to tell you that I was finally done and I finished it around 2am last night. So check back later today or early tomorrow and hopefully the pictures will be up FINALLY!

So Sad...

I just found out that the gorgeous lime Renaissance yarn from Classic Elite is out of stock.


I'm so sad, it was the one yarn I was most looking forward to getting, I mean look at that color. What's even worse is that it's discontinued so I won't be getting it at all. Oh well, I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles.

UH OH!

Hi Everyone,
I woke up feeling not so good today, stupid sinuses! Anyway, that's not where the Uh Oh comes into play. I did something bad, well not really bad to me, but it may seem bad to you. So, I've been perusing through WEBS and through Knitpicks these last few days and well, I ordered.... a lot, about $200 worth. For those of you who just fell to the floor, please get back up. Look, the fact is I have a reason for this buying! First and foremost, I haven't bought yarn in 3 months and I figure if I were to add how much I would have spent in those three months, it would have been close to that, if not more (come on, let's be honest now). Secondly, all the yarn I bought was for projects I'm wanting to make. And finally, it's oooohhhh so pretty. So there, I don't have to justify anything to anyone... :op.
So, want to see what I bought, here it is.
From WEBS I bought some lovely Cascade Eco Wool in Coffee (so pretty)

Classic Elite Renaissance in Lime Infusion (LOVE IT!)

Jaggerspun Zephyr Lace in Aegaen (no words)

And finally the 2010 Spring/Summer Issue of Debbie Bliss Magazine

And from Knitpicks I ordered:

Telemark in:

Almond

and Squirrel Heather

From their Palette Line, I ordered:

Blue Note:

and...

Celadon:

and...

Silver:

I'm thinking of using these three to make a Little Birds Cardigan by Ysolda Teague, but I won't know until I put the three colors together and see how they look.

Finally, from their Shine Sport line, I ordered:

Serenade:

and..

White:

Aren't those all so pretty! I mean who could have resisted?! Anway, now that you know which yarns will soon be added to my stash and you know that they all have projects in mind, don't forget to keep checking back here to see what these fab yarns get made into.

On a final note, my #26 Cropped Jacket from Vogue is on it's way to being finished. I've finished the body, washed, and blocked it. Now, I have to make up the front tablet, add some buttons and it will be all done! I can't wait to show you pictures of the FO (that's finished object for all you non-knitting folks)!

Talk to you guys soon!

Finally Getting Underway!

It's been a while, I know. But it was out of my hands because I've been too busy joining sleeves, knitting a yoke, then realizing I have the numbers all wrong and ripping out and starting all over again. It's been painful and it's taken 6 days, that's right SIX, but I finally have gotten things under control! The knitting may have won a few battles, but I definitely won the war and thank God for that because I thought I was going to go crazy if I didn't get this right. So, my Cropped Jacket from Vogue Knitting is now underway again. Sorry, there are no pictures for now, but hopefully there will be in the very near future!