Beta-Blogger beware!

I am so annoyed , I fell for the blogger upgrade ploy that would let me change things on my blog so much easier without html etc. The posts are published immediately but so far that is the only benefit I have seen. Now i can't leave comments on other peoples blogs if they havn't upgraded to beta-blogger or some thing. Someone told me today that they were unable to leave a comment on my blog because of this upgrade. They really should have worked out the kinks before they offered this upgrade. And the really bad part is you can't switch your blog back! Argh!

Virtual Quilt

I have combined my cellular quiltlets into a virtual quilt to be in Artella Magazine issue 10 BODY OF ART: Passion and Projects of Universal Creation. This issues theme is about the Body, tying in with themes of Soul, Creation, and Creativity. My artwork is going to be paired with a poem by Nita Penfold called The Cells in My Body Dance.

This is a virtual quilt because all the pieces are still seperate in reality and probably would not go together quite as nicely. I played around with sizing things up and down and did some cropping to make a pleasing layout.

Progress

This is the quilting so far. Not terribly exciting, but I thought the lines running linear with the leaves would help give clarity to the agave image defining the shapes of the leaves.

New Sweater

I have started a new sweater. This time it is a hoodie from Patons made in Knitpicks Merino Style wool. It is nice and soft.











I was not so thrilled with the cable design used in the pattern so i have decided to try my own. This has been a lot of trial and error. First i wanted to use Vogue knittings embossed twining leaf pattern up the front but i found that i could not do this pattern no matter how many times i tried. I was convinced there was a type-o in the instructions. After i did a quick online search of the pattern name i found plenty of blogs with lovely knitted samples and no one mentioned a problem knitting it, so i guess it is just me.

Then i decided to use a celtic cable pattern. i found a lovely celtic cable here.
The directions for this pattern are on a chart. That was new for me, the graphed charts always look so daunting. but I have to say this one was not bad. After one time knitting the whole pattern through I found that I could read the symbols without referencing the key. When I started the second repeat i did not like the way it looked so i ripped it out and decided to connect the celtic knots into a continuous pattern. Following the chart you can work up to the 22nd row and then start again on the 7th row and it will make a continuous design. I like this much better.

Want to knit gorgeous socks?

Then you must go to Emily Parson's Etsy shop to buy her hand dyed sock yarn. Who can resist yarn like this?

Abby's new fall sweater

Fall is coming fast in Chicago and I thought Abby should have a new turtle neck cable sweater. She is a stylish city dog after all.

The basic dog sweater pattern can be found here. This is a great pattern to create a sweater in any size to fit your dog and it is simple to customize the design to your own choosing. I have knit about 7 dog sweaters from this pattern to fit 3 different dogs.
I always knit in a small hole, like a button hole at the back of the neck so I can easily hook the leash onto her collar.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I knit my first cable sweater. This is Patons "Must have Cardigan" in Knitpicks Shine Worsted cotton.

When I was at my mother in laws house I laid it out on her lovely patio to block. It dried in minutes in that hot Los Angeles sun.

Attracting a baby lizard.

It's really soft.