tiennie knits

autumn fun for me & you too!

2008-10-03T16:06:59-07:00

It's my absolute favorite time of year again! Time for the leaves to change, time for the weather to change, time for the warmer clothes and extra blankets to come out, time to knit sweaters and time to knit socks:

Sometimes I feel like I should always be showing you some huge project or multiple projects but there are times when I only have a single, plain project to show you. These are just simple stockinette stitch socks that I started a few weeks ago for my in-the-dark-movie knitting:

These were knitted toe-up, on US #2.5 needles, over 64 sts, using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks in the colorway Pioneer:

I am so impressed with this sock yarn. It's relatively inexpensive (215 yds/skein for $10/skein.) It's smooth, easy to work with, the colors don't pool and the yardage seems endless. These are the longest cuffs I've ever knitted for Matt and I still had 22 grams out of 114 grams, from 2 skeins, in yardage leftover!:

Matt declared them to be nice and warm and comfortable:

I declare them to be the last of my Project Spectrum Water projects and the first of my Socktoberfest projects. Yippee for an excuse to knit socks in the autumn!

I worked on these socks on and off for the last couple of weeks. They were an easy project to work on last weekend when I went fall camping with my daughter and her troop and her troop leader:

We stayed in these huge covered wagons:

Let me be the first to say that I am so not an outdoorsy girl - especially in woody areas. I always always get tons of mosquito bites, allergy attacks and I also have to say I am a bit afraid of animals and slithery things. I am the type of person that doesn't even like to sleep with my window open but I braved it and stayed in these open air covered wagons. I was freaking myself out a bit, especially since I just finished reading the entire Twilight series. You know the series? The one that was about vampires set in the Olympic Rainforest? Yeah... tell me I wasn't twitchy over every little noise!

It was fun to spend time with my daughter and her friends and see how cool and funny and sweet they are with each other. I have to admit, it really wasn't too bad being in the great outdoors. We didn't even have to use this:

That is a picture of the old outhouse. Now they have a big electric powered bathroom with real toilets and showers. Here's a couple of pictures of where we ate and did crafts:

The open interior:

Did I say crafts? We did some crafts. I taught them a project using those leftover sock yarn we all have laying about:

Friendship bracelets! Remember those? I brought along my bag of leftover sock yarn on the trip and now my daughters and their friends are making them for each other:

So there you go. If you have any sock yarn left, make an anklet or a bracelet with it. Another thing that is fun? Join in Socktoberfest! Knit some socks! Want a pattern? Join Kirsten and the Through The Loops Ravelry Group to knit her Socktoberfest Mystery Sock.

Want some more fun? It's time for my 8000th comment! Leave me a comment, and don't forget to tell me your favorite color. I will send the lucky 8000th commenter, and a random commenter, some sock yarn so you can knit socks too! Happy Fall to you!

joni hats for 7 long project

2008-09-24T20:36:07-07:00

The very talented Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops asked me if I would like to do a little test knitting for her. Would I? Would I! Of course! This is the Joni Hat that she asked me to knit:

As soon as she sent me the pattern (ravelry link, non-ravelry link), I casted on with some yarn that I already had. The pattern called for fingering weight yarn, but I crammed my worsted weight yarn, Classic Elite Princess, onto US #5 needles to produce this first hat:

It turned out a little dense on worsted weight yarn, but very warm too:

Kirsten had generously offered to send me some yarn to do the test knitting with. As soon as I received it, I grabbed my needles and knitted the first one in these pretty colors, Dark Indigo and Chocolate, that she chose:

I knew I couldn't get gauge with the US #4 needles that the pattern calls for, since I'm a tight knitter, so I once again used my US #5 needles for this fingering weight yarn, Nature's Palette:

This one still turned out a little smaller than gauge, but stretches to fit well on my head, as well as on my youngest daughter's head:

I still had extra yarn left over and happened to have been listening to the Stash and Burn podcast, where Jenny has embarked on a project, 7 long, knitting caps and blankets for kids in her oncology ward, so I casted on again for a third hat:

Jenny asked that the hats be knitted large so I modified the pattern slightly by casting on extra stitches for extra pattern repeats. Any weird funkiness in the hat is due to my modifications and not Kirsten's pattern:

All three hats are going to the 7 long project:

If you are interested please email for where you can send your contributions. There are a few guidelines:

- Machine washability and softness are essential. Please knit in cotton, superwash, or acrylic blends that are easy to care for.
- Kid heads are nearly as big as adult heads, so caps in the 18-22 inch range are good.
- Squares for quilts should be around 12" x 12".
- For every item you send in you get an entry in a prize drawing.

This is a fabulous sock yarn stashbusting project. Do you have leftover yarn from your sock knitting? You'll only need less than 30 grams of yarn of each color for these hats. If you're a fan of Kirsten, like I am, come join the Ravelry Through The Loops group! Thanks Kirsten for asking me to knit for you!

my guys

2008-09-15T20:34:01-07:00

It's so nice to have the kids back in school and to have everyone's schedules normalizing (somewhat!) I am even getting some time to myself so I've been able to finish some projects:

These are socks that I started way back in June. It's such a simple pattern - a melding of Nancy Bush's Gentlemen's Half Hose Socks and Wendyknits Fingering Weight toe-up socks. I've knitted it before but wanted to do it again since Matt says they're the most comfortable ones he's ever had:

It's a great pattern to keep in my car for our outings and to work on at the movies in the dark:

I liked having 6 of them to knit - it's such an easy pattern to have for working on anytime:

I bought the yarn, Koigu, on our trip to Philly. I knitted Matt's pair on US #2.5 needles over 66 stitches and used about 2.5 skeins:

I knitted my older son's socks, a little big for growing room, on US#2 needles over 66 sts and used a little less than 2 skeins:

I knitted my youngest son's socks, also a little big for growing room, on US #2 needles over 58 sts and used about 1.5 skeins:

Since it's the middle of September, I thought I'd better just go ahead and finish them up at home to get them done in time for Project Spectrum Water. I actually snapped these pictures a week ago but didn't have a chance to upload them until now. The fall weather has been beautiful so we've been out and about and are going to try to enjoy it as much as possible. Soon I'll have to go back to snapping pics of my FOs indoors instead of being able to head outside for photo shoots:

I know these are a lot of pictures for one post but I thought I'd better make up for the lack of knitting photos lately! I have even more photos on my flickr stream as well as on Ravelry, if you are interested.

The boys like their socks but not so much the photo taking. They'd rather wade through the stream:

or find treasures in the water:

I can't blame them for that! While we were taking pictures, a family wandered by and were wondering what was so interesting that required so many photos. They were a bit confused when I said socks. You understand though, don't you? Can you believe that I even have more FOs to show you? But you'll have to wait until next time!

happy days

2008-09-04T15:31:04-07:00

Hiya! Thanks for all the nice words about my home. And no, it's not always that decluttered. I just lucked out the day I took the pictures. We do like to pick up and keep the house clean, but with 4 kids, it's not always possible. Most of their toys are upstairs in the playroom and in their bedrooms and those rooms are never clean!

Boston was fantastic! So hot, so sunny, so fun! It's my favorite city, after Seattle. We were joking around about all the really great Boston knitters we can ~~stalk~~ run into and what do you know? We ran into Casey and Jess, uber rockstars of Ravelry! That was a surprise! Matt even deemed it photo worthy so here's a terrible iPh*ne picture of them. Oohh... a full on picture of Matt:

I think I blabbered to Casey and Jess like an idiot but they were the nicest people. I did get a chance to go yarn shopping with Matt and my friend, Sholeen, while in Boston. Matt was the first to buy some yarn so you'll be getting pictures of Matt's newest project soon. Me? I swear I knitted a lot during my travels but I haven't finished a project to show you - yet.

How about other fun pictures instead? My kids are back in school - yippee!!! Oops, I mean, darn it, summer's over. :) Here's a photo Matt took, trying to be all stealth-like, while spying on our middle schooler - yikes!!! A middle schooler!!!:

Here's my other daughter twirling around in her new school dress. She's so happy to be going back to school:

Here's my son, and his friend, showing each other how they've made their new school shoes dirty already. Apparently, it's not cool to look like you've got new shoes on:

Here is a picture I love. All the moms taking first-day-of-school pictures of their kids:

My youngest doesn't start school until Monday and then I'll have all my kids in school, all day, everyday! Then I can get some time to do this:

I've forgotten how much I like planning, designing, and figuring out the math of quilting. Then there's the cutting of strips to get them ready to put it all back together:

My days are mine again. Yay! Back to days of knitting, quilting, blogging...ahem, I mean cleaning the house (if you are reading this Matt.) My poor sister on the other hand, is dealing with a teacher's strike in her school district. So her kids are driving her batty and they are all anxious to know when they get to go back to school. Our teachers were able to come to an agreement over a new contract last week so school started on time for us. Happy days to you all!!

finished objects of a different sort

2008-08-21T23:35:08-07:00

Thank you everyone so much for the great reception to my 1st sock pattern! It's been exciting seeing it being favorited and queued up on Ravelry! I have finished zip, zilch, zero knitting projects since my last post so in my lazy summer fashion, how about I show you some other projects that have been finished for awhile but I haven't shared with you?

Remember my front door/back door meme? Here is an updated shot of our exterior front door, newly painted,with the strange K*lly-M**re paint name of 5 o'clock shadow:

This is our interior front door which we refreshed with Icy White. We picked B*hr paint's Twig Basket for the walls:

This is the living room (without the pictures that I have since hung on the wall - see what I mean about being lazy?):

This is our dining room:

A shot of the french doors in the back:

Here is a picture of the family room:

And one of the kitchen:

Even though the pictures don't quite show it, the kitchen, living room, and hallway were all painted with B*hr's Belgium Sweet. We also painted the hallway and stairs but that would be a boring picture to show you. Matt's office/guest room and bath and the downstairs powder room were already done so now we have to work on the upstairs. But I need a break before we start that!

We are off to Boston for a few days which means hours and hours of plane and travel knitting time! So with any luck, my next post will contain pictures of finished knits. Have a great weekend!

fascine braid socks

2008-08-08T00:22:54-07:00

I have been a slacker, I know. It's summer and I feel like being lazy. All I want to do is hang out with my family and just enjoy the heat. I did manage to finish a pair of socks:

These are socks that I've had floating around in my head for a few months. They are the Fascine Braid Socks which is my own cuff-down pattern:

I finally wrote it down on paper and translated it to my needles using Louet Gems in Pearl on US #2 needles:

A girly pair of socks should include a picot cuff, no?:

Why yes, I know that Project Spectrum Air is over, but I did start and finish these in July. I just didn't post them until August. It still counts, right?

As always, these are modeled by my sweet daughter:

It took me a few days before I forced myself to quit being so lazy and just write up the pattern in a way that other knitters may be able to follow (I hope!):

Download fascine_braid_socks.pdf here, on the side bar, or on Ravelry.

This is my first sock pattern that I wrote up for other people to follow. Please e-mail me and let me know if you have any questions or find any errors. Thanks so much! I hope you all get to be a bit lazy too and enjoy what's left of summer. Good luck to all of the knitters that are participating in Ravelympics!

spiral boot socks

2008-07-27T19:21:05-07:00

Hey looky here! An actual FO! Remember seeing those on this blog? This is an FO that I finished earlier this month but totally forgot to share with you during our home projects:

These are a Project Spectrum Air and I Knit Kneehighs! project l'm squeaking in at the last moment:

The pattern is Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery that I knitted for my daughter. I really like the lacy cuff that is meant to peek out from your boots:

They were knitted with Rowan 4-ply soft yarn using US #2 needles:

The only modification I did to the pattern was to make each sock spiral in different directions:

I loved knitting these socks. It was an easy to memorize but not boring pattern:

I actually ran out of yarn and had to order another ball of yarn, a year after I ordered the first 2 balls, so of course the dye lots don't match but I don't believe it's noticeable unless you really inspect the feet:

I think she is pretty happy with them though:

But now, she informs me, I have to buy her some boots to wear this fall.

my favorite quilt

2008-07-20T22:45:15-07:00

Well, hello there!! I so didn't mean to announce a blogiversary contest and then abandon you all. We are in the midst of home remodeling/redecorating and have been so busy that every night we drop into bed exhausted. We've been endlessly painting with a lot of help from a willing ~~sucker~~ sister - thanks so much Tracey!!! The kids have also had their friends sleeping over pretty much everyday of summer so far. So we've had loads of kids running in and out of the house while we try to accomplish our projects. No time for knitting, no time for blogging, no time for crafting. I've just been making more trips to Home Depot in the last few weeks than I have in the last 10 years.

How about I just cheat at this blogging thing and show you a quilt that I created a few years back? I quickly snapped a few pictures this morning before my day of home improvement began. Sorry about the grainy quality of the photos. I had the ISO set too high on my camera and didn't notice until I uploaded the pictures tonight:

This is just a small lap quilt, really no bigger than a baby quilt, that I made entirely by hand. It was the first time that I did:

The designing, cutting, appliqueing, piecing, basting, quilting, and sewing on the scalloped border were done without the use of my sewing machine - definitely not the standard way I'd make a quilt though:

I didn't keep detailed notes of my quilts so I don't have much to tell you about it. I don't really even have a name for it. I call it my Floral Applique Quilt. The quilt consists of two different squares of flowers. The square above and this one below:

It is 3 rows of alternating squares of really only 3 different shapes - circle, leaf and stem. I worked each piece until it became a whole:

I just happen to run across the quilt as I was replacing the hinges on a closet, that I don't look into often, and remembered how much joy I had in creating this quilt. So I hope you forgive me for showing you an old FO of mine rather than something new.

Something that did get me through the chaotic mess and made me happy? Reading all the nice comments you left me on what makes you happy. If anyone ever needs a pick me up, go and read the comments! I can't thank you all enough for that! I appreciate every one of them and I do try to answer each and every comment - unless my e-mail doesn't work with yours. So I'm sorry if you didn't get an e-mail from me. I really did try!

Now onto the winners! Each one was picked randomly and the grand prize winner is:

Emily of Emily in France!

I also picked 3 more winners of some rockin' sock yarn and they are:

AJ of I Knit. I Purl!

Amy of Whistlepea Knits!

Chris of Luckylily!

Congratulations to all of you! Please send me your address so I can send you your prize. Thank you again everyone! This blogging thing wouldn't be any fun without you!!

blogiversary, giveaway, memememe...and you too!

2008-07-09T00:10:00-07:00

I've been putting off some memes that I have been tagged for, and since I still want you to invite me over for playdates after school, I will participate. Besides, if you make it to the end of this very long post, there is something in it for you too!:

Flickr Meme - I did this one about 5 weeks ago but only posted it to my flickr page - silly me. It's been fun seeing everyone's mosaic. BTW - no one else is allowed to put Nathan Fillion down as their celebrity crush.

the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.
the questions:
1. What is your first name? You know!
2. What is your favorite food? Vietnamese noodles
3. What high school did you go to? Sammamish High School
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Nathan Fillion
6. Favorite drink? Water
7. Dream vacation? Santorini
8. Favorite dessert? Cupcakes
9. What you wanted to be when you grow up? Mommy
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One Word to describe you? Quiet (I was feeling quiet at the time)
12. Your flickr name? tiennieknits

Movie Meme - tagged by Sue:
1. One movie that made you laugh: Juno
2. One movie that made you cry: Dan In Real Life
3. One movie that you loved as a child: Sound of Music
4. One movie you've seen more than once: Serenity
5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it: Bring It On
6. One movie you hated: Breakfast At Tiffany's
7. One movie that scared you: Silence of The Lambs
8. One movie that bored you: I Know Who Killed Me
9. One movie that made you happy: Ever After
10. One movie that made you miserable: ????
11. One movie that you weren't brave enough to see: The Amityville Horror
12. One movie character you've fallen in love with: Both Mr. Darcys
13. The last movie you saw: Iron Man
14. The next movie you hope to see: Wanted

Front Door/Back Door Meme - also tagged by Sue:
I'm so embarrassed about posting pictures of my front door but here goes:

My house is a total mess right now as we are trying to repaint/remodel. Here are paint swatches we are thinking of:

Here's the front door from the outside:

Yep, more paint swatches. We just had the house resided but couldn't have it painted until it stopped raining around here:

The new french doors in back (even more paint swatches):

Life Meme - tagged by Justine:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was trying to get through a hot summer, hugely pregnant with a baby, and chasing after a very active toddler while simultaneously getting our new home in order.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
1. Drive the kids around to all their gymnastics practices and soccer camps
2. Pick out paint colors (see above photos)
3. Remove all old brass hardware:

4. Put on new door handles:

and hinges (these are actually the same color as the door handles - bad photo!):

5. Finish my blogiversary post which I have actually been working on for a few days!

3) Snacks I enjoy:
1. Beverages - water, lemonade, single-grande-decaf vanilla soy latte
2. Popcorn
3. Cheese and crackers
4. Chocolate
5. Strawberry ice cream

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Clear out my family and my home debts.
2. Vacation home for all of my siblings and me to share.
3. Travel everywhere.
4. Educational funds for all the wee ones in our families.
5. Donate, donate, donate!!!

5) Places I have lived:
1. Saigon, Vietnam
2. Seattle, Washington
3. Bellevue, Washington
4. Redmond, Washington
5. North Bend, Washington - What can I say? I'm a Washington girl!

6) Jobs I have had:
1. Making gift baskets
2. Employee at Yonny Yonsons Yogurt
3. Assistant Manager at a Hallmark
4. Registered Nurse
5. Business Manager for our companies

Still with me on this post? Good. So you don't think that I just called one friend to come over to play and feel like I was totally ignoring you and talking about you behind your back, I'm going to tag everyone! Feel free to do whichever one you want. I'll be checking to see if you do as I command. And I'm going to be a bully about it.

Oh, and I guess you want to know the winner from my last post? Tada! It's Jessica for the 7000th comment and Lindsey for a random commenter. Congratulations Jessica and Lindsey! Please send me your address and I will send a skein of sock yarn to you!

Don't fret if you didn't win this time. I still like you and I have another prize. It's my 2nd blogiversary today which totally calls for a giveaway! Would you like to win this?:

It is a skein of Socks That Rock yarn, Vogue Knitting - The Ultimate Sock Book and a brand new, complete set of Knit Picks Harmony DPNs.

Let's make this fun and leave me a comment on what makes you happy! I will pick a random commenter to win. I will also pick another random commenter, or two, or three, to win a skein of sock yarn. So don't forget to tell me a color you like also. Thanks for making this a fun two years of blogging! Like the old saying goes - time sure flies....

family of hats

2008-07-01T23:23:29-07:00

My family and I spent last week, our first week of the summer vacation, visiting my sister and her family in Pocatello, Idaho (that's Poke-a-fellow to you Wendee!) It was hot, relaxing and fun. While there, I was able to complete a few hats requested by my sister:

Yes, I knitted a hat that says Beer Me. My BIL likes his last hat so much and wanted another to wear to his Beer Festivals. He loves beer like no other I know, and is an aspiring Brew Master. He's pretty darn good at it too!:

Of course I had to knit my cute nephew a Juice Me hat to match his daddy. It wasn't easy getting an energetic toddler to model a wool hat in the summer heat. You'll notice the candy bribe he's enjoying:

But I couldn't leave my sister out of the woolly goodness. I knitted her a WSU hat (and the other hats) in her & her husband's alma mater colors. It was a bit hard for a rival UW girl like me. Go Huskies! The things I'll do for my loved ones:

Here's a picture of the happy family - and no, my nephew isn't drinking the beer!:

All the hats were knitted using my Norwegian Star Earflap Hat pattern. The celtic lettering was created from this link which I found from Julia of Fricknits. Thanks for the idea Julia! I used Cascade 220 Superwash Yarn and US #7 needles. More pictures of the hats can be found in my Flickr photostream and on my Ravelry page. Speaking of Ravelry, you know what's really cool about it? I had some extra yarn, from socks I knitted last year. Jennie needed some extra in order to finish her socks and found mine on Ravelry. She asked if she could have it so I happily sent it off to Sweden for her. I didn't expect anything in return but she sent me some gifts anyways:

Chocolate, a cute handmade bag and a creative DPN holders that she made herself. Thanks Jennie! I really like it all!

I've been getting so much goodness from blogland lately that it's time I give some back! I'm about to receive my 7000th comment and you know that means it's contest time. Just leave me a comment and if you are that 7000th commenter, I will send you some sock yarn. I will also pick a random commenter to win too. Don't forget to tell me what color you like. Thanks so much for always being so kind to me!