Lisa Kay Knits... and Quilts!

Hi, I finished a quick project over the holiday, too. It is a Noro Striped Scarf, a bit of a "bandwagon" knit a the moment, popularized by Brooklyn Tweed , but I couldn't resist the colors and simplicity. Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, In addition to many toys, there were some fiber-related treats for Mommy. :) Santa (with advisement) brought a set of Addi interchangeable needles! Yea! There were also carders... and fiber to card... (ordered with every intention of mixing...) This is merino in the colorways "Ruby Red" and "Crocus," from Alpaca Direct. Here is some of the fiber, carded. Still a lot to go... The "ruby red" and "crocus" amounts to a pound and a half, total. (One pound of ruby red, and one half of crocus.) Happy Knitting (and Carding and Spinning), Lisa Kay

Hi, We had a great Christmas, here. The holiday season is a treat when there is a three-year-old in the house. There were trains and castles and knights... barns, horses, Indians, covered wagons... Neato! Happy Knitting, Lisa Kay

Hi, When I moved into the house in 2001, there was a big controversy in the home-owner's association about acceptable mailboxes. The only ones allowed in the covenants were three particular wrought iron designs. There was an amendment to allow brick. After that went through, I built my own brick mailbox, using brick that the builder gave me, along with some "homemade" bricks with glass inlays. I made the bricks, the number plate, and the top stone, with mortar mix and glass "stones" you can get at craft stores (for flower arrangements and stuff like that). My father-in-law once commented that the one thing about that mailbox was that it would still be there after the apocalypse. It turns out not to be so. With another layer of ice on the streets (seems to be a weekly occurrence, lately), a neighbor went out of control and hit it. (In case you're wondering, it was a Jeep with one of the steel cages on the front.) In that second picture, you can tell the road ...

Hi, I have been busily toiling on Christmas gifts and another project I can't post, yet, but I'm also spinning whenever I get a moment. I am part of the way through the fourth braid of Dragon Fruit (of eight, total), from Spunsilver Creations . I posted the roving back in this post in October . Here's a sneak peak at the single. Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Hi, I actually finished this vest a few weeks ago, and I just had not taken any photos. The light wasn't great after I got home, today, either, but I took some, anyway. The pattern is from Tahki Yarns , and it uses their own Doneghal Tweed "homespun." Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Hi, Mitchell turned three last week. Here is Mitchell, holding up his fingers and saying, "I'm Three." There were so many gifts from the grandparents and Mommy and Daddy that he was running back and forth starting to open one and then another. He would ask for help opening one, and then get distracted and run off. He liked his cake, actually, the frosting, but he wouldn't blow out the candles. He has an aversion to fire. We got him some more Play-Doh, including an "extruder" for making spaghetti and that sort of thing. It has several little templates. It also came with many cutters that would actually work really well for Christmas cookies. There's a great alligator cutter. Happy Knitting! Lisa Kay

Hi, I finished an alpaca cowl a few weeks ago, actually. Alpaca fiber is certainly warm and cozy! It is based on the Monkey sock pattern from CookieA. Using a circular needle (16 to 24”…16” is probably better, but I used 24”) or dpns, CO a multiple of 16 stitches. (I used long tail CO, but read the “Round 12” paragraph before deciding how to CO.) I used seven repeats (112 sts). The cowl is a bit on the drapey side. If you go to a larger gauge (or even in the same gauge, if you want the cowl a bit more snug), you might want to use six repeats (96 sts). Using Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, and a size 5 needle, I knitted to a gauge of 22 sts over four inches in stockinette. I don’t consider that critical, except in deciding to possibly reduce the number of pattern repeats to six. Place marker and join in the round. Knit 5 rounds. Round 6: *K2tog, YO*, repeat to end of round. Knit 5 rounds. Round 12: *K2tog, one from the left needle, one from the CO row*, repeat to end of round. This is a bi...