Beyond my Expertise

I have come into possession of a very cool machine.

This is a Brother Electroknit KH-940. It's really fancy. It has a plug, some sort of computer interface and I'm not really sure how to work it. I know it uses fingering weight or smaller yarn and I know how to cast-on and cast-off.

A friend of mine gave me this knitting machine a few months ago and I made a swatch on it, but stopped there. One of the first things I realized, was that it wasn't going to work on the kitchen table. It needed to have a proper setup to work efficiently and correctly. So I put it away and kept thinking about what kind of setup I should make.

I decided to fashion a table out of some wood my husband had in the garage that was leftover from a construction site he had worked on. My husband helped me cut, sand, and drill until I had a thin tabletop. All that we needed to figure out were the legs. While we were thinking about it, I found some wood stain in his stack of paint cans. It definitely started looking a little more like a table after that.

I didn't want the table too high, that way I would be comfortable sitting on a chair in front of it. We went to Home Depot and checked out our options. The table legs are in the moulding section. I found the leg I liked, but they only had three. Then I spotted an incredibly dirty, dusty box on the bottom shelf with a cart in front of it. I got down on my hands and knees, and pulled out a pair of folding table legs. Perfect!

We attached the legs and hauled the whole thing up to my bedroom. It was so tall! We thought about cutting off the bottom of the legs, but I was kind of over it (working on the table) by then. I just sat on my bed and looked at it. Then I scooted to the end of the bed and sat in front of it. It was just the right height! I put the knitting machine on top, clamped it down and cast-on. It was the perfect height, and I could sit comfortably in my room, on my bed and watch my shows.
This is going to be a beaded curtain to cover a window, for the friend who gave me this wonderful knitting machine. I need to make two, but I made all of what you see above, yesterday. I think I can have them finished by the end of the week. It's going to be a very fun distraction...

Holidazed

Name of Project: Holidazed by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight - Muddy Autumn Rainbow
Needles: Size US 1 (2.25 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Estimated Time to Complete Project: 1.5 months
Pattern Notes: This pattern was simple enough for me to carry around in my purse to work on while I was waiting.

This was the last shipment from the 2008 Rockin Sock Club and it was just in time, because on Friday I got this...

My Blue Heaven. Yes it is. 360 yards of lightweight, superwash, hand dyed heaven. This is the first shipment from the 2009 World Domination Tour of the Rockin' Sock Club. I think the universe has been trying to send me a message of some sort with the seemingly random peacock colored blues that keep coming to me. This is going to match the Peacock coat I finished last week, exactly.

The kit came with a keychain, button, binder cover and a bag of beads along with the pattern and dyer's notes. The pattern is called Queen of Beads by Sivia Harding. It looks very beautiful although the pictures that came with the pattern are kind of dark so it's hard to see a whole lot of detail. I've wound the yarn into a ball and still need to string the beads, so I won't be starting it right away. Hopefully by the end of this week.

I've been playing with a knitting machine that a very giving and good friend has decided to pass along to me. It's very different and I am still a little unsure of the in's and out's of it. I have some coned yarn that is perfect for the fine gauge machine and I'm having fun learning. I am still trying to finish Giselle before Stitches West so I really need to stay focused and not let myself be distracted so easily. I've got one sleeve done and one more to go, then all of the trim. It's so close! I'll just keep reminding myself to work on it first so I can have something beautiful to wear that weekend.