Knitted Flower Class

My knitted rose class was lots of fun. We all used different yarn can came up with different looks for our Tea Rose pins. It was interesting to see how the different yarns created a different feel and texture for the flowers.

And it was fun to discuss the variety of ways that they thought you could use the flowers to embellish clothing, baskets, picture frames, et al.

We have more flowers and ideas to explore thanks to Nicky Epstein's book Knitted Flowers.

One of my class participants showed off her very cool scarf that she bought and all of us decided that it would make a great stash buster project. May have to have a knitalong for this project.

I hope you are planning lots of fun things in your world

Roses, Roses, Everywhere

It may not be spring outside my door yet, however inside my house there are roses of several varieties "growing."

With my Knitted Flowers classes coming up, I have been knitting samples, finding yarn substitutions, and experimenting with adding beads to the flowers.


Even the shop is blooming with samples, and a big thank you to those who have knitted or provided backdrop items to display them on. I think that everyone who comes to take these classes will enjoy the satisfaction of experimenting with color and ideas for this small, quick to create items.

I hope you all are finding creative pastimes to greet the coming warm weather!

Happy Monday: Weekend Update

I am happy to report it was a very busy and productive weekend. It started out Saturday with FROG (freezing fog) that finally dissipated in town around 1 p.m. from the reports I received. I went out in it around 8 a.m. to drive up to Woodland Park for my private student. I left very early to insure that I had enough time to drive as slowly as necessary to arrive safely. Once I got to the eastern edge of Woodland Park around 9 a.m. it was already starting to clear. By 11 when I met my client it was sunny and lovely.

We had a great time knitting leaves for the Tea Roses and talking about future projects. She showed me a great book all about making crafts with felted sweaters called Warm Fuzzies. It has some wonderful ideas in it.

Then I was off to visit the folks. Mom and I started our sweater knitalong for the girls in Germany. Will have pictures when we actually have something done on the needles worth photos. We watched Madagascar 2 and ate a sumptuous surf and turf dinner. It was lots of fun.

I worked all day Sunday on my stitch marker orders. It is really fun taking a charm and deciding what color and composition of bead hangers I want to pair it with. Watched Shakespeare in Love and The Wedding Planner while I worked.

Then I made roast chicken for dinner and worked on a scarf out of one of the new Lion Brand Homespun colors for the shop. I realized that they need samples up in the yarn section so I am going to see what I can do to contribute.

Pedro assisted me in all my endeavors and was sound asleep when I left home this morning. Poor boy, I must have worn him out.

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

The Wall of Samples and the Last Day of January

It was a splendid day to visit Woodland Park today. The weather was sunny, bright and warm for the last day of the first month of the new year. I had my first class with my private student and we worked on the Tea Rose pattern that is from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers book. She did really well and, I expect, will be ready for the leaves in two weeks with two flower pieces ready to put together.

While I was there I added my latest design sample, the Gauntlet Cuff, to my section of the Wall of Samples. I also gave them the sample of the Tea Rose to hang up for future students. So far I am filling my section of the wall, and with shop's help they get ID'd with fun signage.


I even got to visit with the shop owner's dog, Sport. He is recuperating from his first hip replacement and needs to be kept quiet. So, he was soaking up as much attention as he could from the steady flow of customers. Way to go, Sport!

I hope all of you are finding ways to fill these winter days and enjoy the last day of January!

FO: Rose Pin

The tea rose is done and assembled. It is a very simple knit. I will be adding a felt round to the back to cover the assembly area as well as providing a solid base to place the pin back.

This rose turns out quite large. I am looking for 2-inch pin backs and, so far, have only found 1-1/2-inch. Will try one of those if that is all I can find.

I am also going to try to cut the pattern down and make a smaller one to see how it looks.

Tomorrow I will be stopping in the outlet store and buying more yarn to make a couple in other colors. I think I saw it available in yellow and lavendar.

My next flower project will be the ones that look like columbines. In the book they are called Moody Blues. Everyone I have showed it to here says they look like columbines. I'll let you know how those turn out.

Until then, I hope everyone is pursuing something that makes them happy!

Knitted Roses and "Lost"

As promised, here is a picture of the knitted parts of the Tea Rose I have been building as a sample for the class I am teaching based on Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers book.

Unfortunately, the picture of the finished product will have to wait until tomorrow. I did not have time to assemble this one last night and the first one is on my suit jacket at work. I will bring it home today and photo it for tomorrow's post.

These do not take long to knit and assemble. The flowers turn out large so I may try less stitches to make a smaller version. The leaves are super fast and easy to knit. And you do need four to finish one rose. I am going to get some more yarn this weekend and knit some up in other colors. I think they will make lovely Mother's Day gifts.

On the "Lost" scene, it looks like this season is going to be all about getting the Oceanic 6 members back to the island. I see the potential for more questions to be answered. It was interesting to watch them bounce around in time, supposedly, as the island shifted. So far, no explanation about why it is doing that. All in all, this is a cleverly written show. I am going to enjoy this season.

I hope everyone is having a good end to their week!

"Lost" Begins...

I watch a lot of movies and am a huge Netflix fan. I watch the news for the weather reports. Other than that I am not a network TV watcher. I do not have cable and have no plans in the future to get it. So, my confession is:

I am a HUGE "Lost" fan. It is the only network series I follow. It is posted on my calendar to ID date and time so I don't miss it. And, to really reveal my true obsession, it is the only show that I will put my needles down and give my full attention to the program.

And tonight is the season opener of Season 5. I am so excited to see what happened to the island after if vanished from view. And during the commercials I will knit. Tomorrow I will post my take on the return to the island and pictures of my first finished knit tea rose from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers book.

Until then I hope you have at least one healthy obsession in your life!

Saturday Night: Dead or Alive Fish Hat and Book Review

I lead an exciting life. Once I get home, I stay in and usually find a myriad of entertainment in my own home. Tonight is was Gone With The Wind, steaming the Ooh La La scarf sample and finishing the matching cuff for delivery tomorrow. For the cuff, I think it will be a Michael Jackson special since I do not have time to finish its mate before delivery.

Last week at the Copper Creek Knitters meeting I was reminded of the hat pattern from Knitty.com Winter 2008. It is the funniest thing I have seen in a while and I want to knit one, the Dead or Alive Fish Hat. Someone mentioned that there are lots of good ideas @ Ravelry so I went "fishing." There are lots of versions of the hat in all colors and sizes and yarn weights. I think I have enough leftovers from my 20o8 gift knitting to make one for myself. Now I need to see if someone has done a Great White Shark version. Hehe...

While my mom was here, after our shopping trip to buy her new pants - congrats on shrinking out of your other ones :-) we looked at the books that arrived in the mail. She had seen the Knitted Flowers by Nicky Epstein, but neither of us had seen her Signature Scarves. It is a delight of ingenuity and dazzling photography. We especially liked the Oak Leaves, where each leaf is knit and felted separately then sewn together. It looks like there are about 40 leaves to knit. Quite a project. Then we thought the Mouse Trap one was very unique. The base of the scarf looks like swiss cheese and it has a knitted mouse pin to hold it together. Very fun. Another interesting thing the back of the book is a section on how to tie a scarf, pictured with several variations on a relatively plain scarf. It proves that scarves do not have to be just a boring knit.

And, I'd like to take this opportunity to send out a big Happy Birthday greeting to my friend, Gene Vories, author of several westerns and still writing. Have a great day!

And, of course, Pedro helped entertain us in his usual fashion. All in all, a productive and fun Saturday at my house. Hope you are finding ways to entertain yourself this weekend.

Note: Pedro is six months old in this picture and he is showing me how big his paw is. Fish in bucket picture is borrowed from Knitty and Mom loves her bonsai.

Happy Monday: The Weekend Recap

Good Monday morning! There were many things going on this weekend at Chez Pedro's, besides the usual Nascat activities. Mostly he slept and raced. However he did investigate the newest member of our home, Duckers. My brother (the one in Missouri that used to drive trucks) sent me something that he had found in his travels. This is one I will actually build a scarf and hat for, he has real personality. Mom found him a frilly hat that may confound his sense of self but does look adorable.

On the knitting scene, I finished the quicky samples for the Ooh La La Scarf class and delivered them to the shop for display. I designed and knit matching cuffs to go with it. The quick-get-it-done sample was done with Red Heart in a varigated color. The full length sample is on my needles now in the yarn that the pattern calls for: Patons Classic Wool. The color I chose for the sample is named Rosewood. I like the feel of the knitting much better in wool. Can't wait to see what it looks like off the needles.

At the new yarn outlet in town I found some yarn to knit samples of a rose and a columbine for the Knitted Flowers class that I will start teaching in March. It is not exactly what the book calls for but it will do for now.

And in the birthday celebration part of the weekend, the folks came down for enchilada dinner and movie at my house. Then I went to theirs for breakfast the next morning. All in all, it was quiet and fun. They brought me a Snuggi for my chair. Dad decided I needed to stay warm while I knit in the evenings. We all tried it out and said YES, it is very warm.

Pedro has discovered that it makes a great bed for him to crawl into when I am gone to work.

I hope your weekend was productive with fun, memorable moments in it!