Here's a winter hat for DH. Been working on it for awhile. It's Lion's Brand, sport weight done on #4 needles. Came out great. Just need a little blocking on the bind off.

I also discovered the joys of knitted pumpkins. Very cool! This one is drying. This is the pattern from the Knitty archives.

Last but not least is a scarf knit from soy-wool, plain ole' garter stitch knit from end to end. I'm still deciding on whether to fringe or not.

Shocking!

Okay, here's the surprise. It's a Forest Canopy Shoulder Shaw. What a great pattern!

And here's a close up of it being blocked.

And now here's the shocking part -- it's made from acrylic yarn. I know, I know, but I had to consider where the shawl is going to live and be cared for. Seriously, when it's going to live somewhere where it rarely gets below 75 degrees, acrylic can be very practical. To block it, I pinned it out and used my steam iron. I think it might be what they call "killing" it with steam, but it turned out great and it had a good hand and drape. So, there, I'm breaking out of the mold!

But seriously folks, it's a great pattern. I plan on knitting it a few more times and I'm sure somewhere along the line, I'll be doing it in wool.

Again, I've been a bad blogger. I can't believe I haven't posted since August. But this time I have good news -- I've been knitting. I have the FLAK sweater back out. I'm hopeing to be done by the end of the year. (Well, maybe sooner.) In the meantime, I have been working on some smaller projects.

First, I picked up some yarn over the weekend. Our community hosts a very large Fall Foliage Festival, complete with a multitude of craft vendors. Also, the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman hosts an indoor show in conjuction with the big, outdoor show. I specifically went to check out the lady who was demonstrating spinning. (She had yarn for sale too! Imagine that!) Very cool. I am restraining myself with regard to spinning. I know I would really enjoy spinning, but I just can't take on another activity at this point in my life. Who knows, maybe someday a spinning wheel will fall into my lap and away I'll go.

Here's some hand-spun local yarn that I picked up at our community's annual Fall Foliage Festival. It's from Rose Garden Fibers. This is a bulky yarn, color way called Evening Rose Garden. I think it wants to be a scarf.

I also picked up this blue and white sport weight wool. They are begging to be mittens.

Anyhow, I'm hoping to do better with more regular posts. For instance, I already have tomorrow's post ready, but I can't put it up till tomorrow. All for now.

I've been away this past week to my favorite place - The Outer Banks. The weather was great and we had lots of fun. No knitting took place. Sorry! But I have to admit that my FLAK sweater has been calling.

Today is my dad's birthday. He's 75. We had a picnic and eyed up the pear tree which is just loaded with fruit. I brought a couple home to see if they are getting close to being ripe enough to eat.

The plums are just about ripe, too!

We had a wonderful blueberry pie made by the queen of the pie makers, my Mom!

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to blod. Not much knitting going on either. My job has kept me busy typing, but I have picked up a pair of low socks to putt around with. There's no real pattern. I'm using Esprit from Elann. Just something mindless to work on.

Out local county fair was last week. Amanda got to meet country star, Daryl Singeltary. She was excited. Plus we got VIP seating.

Here's a little something that I've been working on as a break from the FL:AK sweater. It's made from Lion's Brank Microfiber -- very nice and soft!

Spring Forward

Here's a swatch for another project waiting in the wings. The Spring Forward cardigan - another Aran style knit. I saw a finished Spring Forward cardigan on a blog and it was beautiful! It was done in pink. Really shows off the cables. So, I ordered me up the pattern from Big Sky Knitting. The photo's with the pattern really don't do it justice. The sample is done in red and you really can't see the texture. I have this cotton acrylic blend that came from Elann an eon ago. And I think will suit this project just fine. Plus, I believe that I have enough to complete the sweater!

Here on the swatch I'm considering using the stitch on the upper portion of the swatch for the filler stitch. I'm tired of Moss Stitch (which is the bottom portion). So, in the meantime, I must keep plugging away at my FLAK.

Bedford Springs

In our town we have a historic springs resort. Summer home of presdents and other wealthy folks from a time long gone by. When I was in high school we held our proms here. It was very lovely. Unfortunately it closed in the 1990's and fell into disrepair and decay.

After a long series of owners, developers, et cetera, the Bedford Springs is being re-invented as a 5-star resort. Earlier this year work began in earnest.

You'll note the lack of knitting content. That's because I'm stilling working on those #%*&# sleeves.

Sleeve Island

I can't even believe that I haven't posted for almost a month. In my defense, I've been knitting. As you can see I'm off on sleeve island. I need to make 19 pairs of decreases and I'm doing the decreases along the edge of the saddle cable that runs down to the wrist. I have been looking, but I haven't found the immunity idol. Must be on some other island...

I've finished all the decreases on the first sleeve and put the stitches on yarn. I want to check my sleeve length before finishing off with cuffs. It is a son of a gun doing the sleeves. All that moss stitch just goes on and on and on. I can't wait to get back to working on the body. I believe that I'm not going to work in the round. I think I'd like the stability of having side seams, plus I seem to do better with cables when I have a purl row in between.

I have been thinking about how to finish the neck, wrists, and bottom. Slowly, there have been a few finished FLAK's being shown off across the net. Lots of great ideas. I haven't settled on anything yet. Guess I'm going to have to have a good hard think about it and then sleep on it!

I promise to do better with posting. I do have a couple of other things up my sleeve. No, I didn't start another project, but I do have something waiting in the wings. I really like working on this FLAK, so I don't want to be tempted by starting another project. My goal is to have this sweater done so that I can enter it in the local county fair the end of July. Really, I'm working at a good pace and it shouldn't be a problem.

Here's a shot of the overall progress on my FLAK sweater. I'm working with Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Victorian Rose on size 6 needles.

Here's a shot of the front neckline. In case you're wondering, my stitch markers are cut from candy tubes. You know, that sour powder that comes in a half inch or so sized tube. I just cut off slivers and viola, stitch markers.