Vogue Knitting Live NYC 2015

I love this event! It was a long day and A LOT of walking and shopping! I again went with my Sister in-law Beth. We had a great time and were exhausted when we got home. This was the 5th year for Vogue Knitting Live.

There were knitted scuptures representing the wonders of the world. I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here are a few.

Then there was Mochimochi..

A kitchen filled with "delicious" and calorie free foods!

Some wild masks

Featured garments that appeared this year in Vogue Knitting Magazine

There was a display of knitting with glass.

Beth and I watched the StephenBe and Steven West fashion show. The Stephen & Steven tour will be at The Knitte's Edge in February. Can't wait. These two are fun and fabulous! Their love of color and style is infectious.

And then there was the shopping!! My haul for this year (lots of cashmere)....

I was so happy to see a vendor with drop spindles and lucets. It is difficult to see, but I did purchase a 7/8 oz drop spindle (for alpaca), .4 oz mini drop spindle (for silk), and a lucet.

Until next year!!

Happy Knitting!

Nancy

2010 Advent Scarf

No that is not a typo. I finally finished the 2010 Advent Scarf! During December I am usually too busy to participate in the KAL (Knit Along) for the Advent Scarf. I do collect the patterns (one day I may do 2011-2014 Advent Scarves). One common element of all Advent Scarves that are out there, they are very long scarves!! This one is roughly 7 feet, which is a common length. The  Advent Scarf I follow is out of Germany and is a Lace Advent Scarf. On Ravelry, it is the 24 Days of Christmas Group.

I started this scarf in the Winter of 2011. I have worked on it and put it aside often since then. It was finally finished this week!! I love it! Though it needs to be washed and blocked, I decided to share some pictures. I will be the first to admit there are some mistakes. Not all lace patterns were knitted perfectly, but it came out beautiful.

Happy Knitting!

Nancy D

Vikings Afghan

I can't express how happy I am this afghan is done! It is so big and heavy! I made it for my husband, a Vikings fan. More info can be found on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nancyducey/michaels-minnesota-vikings-blanket

Pattern:

210W x 220H

Afghan Size - 55.125"W x 71.5"H - pic shows it on our Full Sized Bed. It fits the top of the bed

Tunisian Crochet - Afghan Stitch - J Hook

Chain 210

92 rows Spirit Yarn

1 row Red Heart amethyst 

2 rows Red Heart Gold

30 rows Red Heart amethyst 

2 rows Red Heart Gold

1 row Red Heart amethyst 

92 rows Spirit Yarn

1 row last row Bind off

For the border, I did single crochet for the first round. In the corners, I did single crochet chain one single crochet. I should have chained two. The second round was *three double crochet shell, chain one, skip one, single crochet, chain one, skip one, repeat from *. In the corner chain one space, I did a 3dc shell, chain two, 3dc shell. 

This afghan came about because my husband was complaining there is never any Vikings stuff in the stores. We live in PA (eastern) so this is not surprising.  We were on vacation in Ocean City, MD and I found a can cozy for him.  Of course it was knitted and he said I could knit something for him.  I found the "Go Team Throw" and thought that would be a good pattern. Finding the purple and gold spirit yarn was difficult. Everyone was sold out. I finally found it at Beverly's Fabric in CA. I ordered 10 skeins. I knew I had to make it longer because my husband is tall.  I showed it to him and he liked it. A couple of days later he said "Will it have a Viking on it?"! UGH! This pattern does not lend itself to adding an image to the blanket. So back to the drawing board.  I decided on the Tunisian crochet afghan stitch so I could cross stitch the Viking on it. So now I needed a band of solid color to do this and I needed to learn how to Tunisian Crochet! I got a hook, taught myself how to do the stitch while doing a gauge swatch. I then calculated how many to chain and how many rows. Now to find the right purple to do the solid band for stitching and I needed more spirit yarn. Long story short, I have many shades of purple in my stash now! I found the Viking pattern on Ravelry and graphed "Vikings" myself. I am very happy with the end results!

Create and be happy!

Nancy

Christmas 2014

Happy Holidays! We had a wonderful Christmas day. It was filled with family and friends. A number of the gifts we gave were knitted by me :)

Summerflies for Mom (Blue Heron Rayon metallic)

Myka Cowl for Mom (Wicked Fur)

Irish Mesh Infinity Scarf (100% cashmere) for Sana

Easy Slouch for Sana (Amazing)

Jo is now living in the South, so I had to send her gift. Sleeveheart (Kraemer's Tatamy Twead mill ends)

My Mother in-Law also received Sleeveheart (Silky Wool DK)

Audra was home for holidays. I made her a cable headband and 2 1/2 hour scarf (Kraemer's Perfection Lights and Chunky)

Beth and I are going to Vogue Knitting Live in NY. I paid for her trip for Christmas. But she had to have something to open, so I made her the Band of Butterflies Beret (Expression Fiber Arts Silk Worsted)

I am still working on Michael's Vikings blanket. I will post when it is done!

Happy Holidays!

Nancy

Heartfelt Knitters Christmas Exchange 2014

This year our annual Christmas Secret Santa Exchange was at Lonni's house. Such a lovely house filled with holiday cheer! As always, we had a wonderful evening.

Of course all the Nancy's ended up tohether!

My Secret Santa was Sharon. She made me a lovely, soft, wonderful alpaca cowl. I LOVE it! :)

I was Secret Santa to Stephanie for the second year in a row! I made her the Gallatin Scarf. It can be found on my Ravelry page http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nancyducey/gallatin-scarf

Whenever we get together, someone inevitably has a story to tell. Some are funny, some are sad, some are heartwarming, and some are happy. Tonight our fearless leader Rose was the center of rather funny story. Every year she emails all the members and asks who wants to participate in the gift exchange. She puts our names on a slip of paper and we pick from a basket. Then at the Christmas party someone is chosen to give the first gift; the recipient gives the second gift; and so on. Tonight Rose had us pick numbers and we gave our gift in numeric order. Rose was last. I did not think anything of this. However, we got to Rose and Rose was the only one who did not receive a gift. Rose had Rose! How could this be???? WELL, the evening we all picked a number of the knitters were not there. The next week they picked from the remaining names. Rose realized she was short a name, so she put the name she had in the basket for them to pick from. Rose said every year she manages to mess this up! She had no idea whose name she lost, so made a lovely shawl (Sleeveheart) for her recipient. She had us take numbers and give in order so she could go last and give to whoever was left. Stephanie was the last one to give, before Rose. Kathy and Rose had not gotten a gift. Rose thought Stephanie had her and she had Kathy. Turns out Steph had Kathy and Rose had Rose!!! Too funny! Well Rose received a lovely shawl and gift certificate.

Enjoy every moment!

Nancy

Silk Scarf

Yesterday I took the afternoon off of work to go to Christkindlemarkt in Bethlehem, PA. I have not been there in a couple of years and miss walking around. The first purchase was Apple Strudel for my husband. The last time I went, I waited to the end of the day and they were out! There were alot of wonderful vendors. The talent is amazing! Though I did but a couple of things for myself, there was one purchase that made the worth while. I dyed my own silk scarf. I had so much fun! The gentleman had a trough of water that I dripped paint into and then swirled it in spirals. I wanted a Christmas Scarf, so I chose red, green, white, and gold. He chose different shades of red and green as my accents. I just love the resutls!

His website is www.createyourownsilkscarf.com. He books parties as well.

Happy dyeing!

Nancy