First Spring Finished Object!

Following that heavy poncho from my last post--which I HAVE worn in my chilly home office--I veered completely in the other direction and knit an airy, lacy silk scarf called Allegria, a beautiful pattern by Emma Fassio. I used the gorgeous Habu Silk that was left over from my daughter's Ombre Tank Top, in the natural color, and I think it came out great. I was especially happy to take a few photos of it outside, and hopefully will get someone to take pics of it on me over the weekend.

This was a great introduction to using lace weight yarn, which I think I have only done one other time. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but I got to love it, and it's certainly a nice change from all of the bulky things I knit all winter and that dominate my Etsy shop. I may now shop for some lace weight for the Nuvem shawl when I go on the NJ Wool Walk on Friday with one of my Panera knitting group friends.

Now that the scarf is done, I'm moving on to more stash-busting, and I'm determined to use up the 1900 yards of bright red Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that has been in my stash since 2008. I guess it's the oldest worsted in my stash. I had originally bought it for the Central Park Hoodie, but my taste has changed a bit (although I would like to make that sweater one day), and after some back and forth with a bunch of patterns, I've decided on the A-line Hoodie by Diane Soucy, from the book Knit Red: Stitching for Women's Heart Health. I've had this book for years and this sweater was one of the reasons I bought the book--but I've never knit one thing from it. So if I successfully complete this project, I will not only have used up a nice chunk of stash, but also used a book for the first time. Good for me!

Back to the Wool Walk, we're planning on going to about 6 shops on Friday--will report back!

New Finished Object: Burberry Inspired Cowl

While waiting for the serious snow to come down tonight, I took some indoor pictures of my newest finished object, the Burberry Inspired Cowl. It's knit out of one of my all-time favorite yarns, Misti Alpaca Chunky, in a color way that Misti calls "Chartreuse Melange," but I call a variation on olive green. Like the other cowl I made from this yarn, this one feels like a warm and luxurious hug around my neck!

Hopefully this new addition to my winter wardrobe will be out playing in the snow tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Cocooning with Knitting and the Slow Cooker

It sounds like we will be getting a substantial amount of snow here in NJ tomorrow night into Tuesday. While I work from home so I can do my job regardless of the storm, the forecast has motivated me to stock up on comfort food and start some cozy knitting projects.

We bought a slow cooker last winter and I have fallen in love with it. There are so many healthy recipes and it's so easy! Even for someone who is not a great cook (me), I can make delicious meals that cook while I'm working upstairs all day. Last week I made a favorite, Soy & Lime Chicken Wings,
and today I picked up a Pork Shoulder to make this Slow Cooker Pork Roast. I think it's going to be delicious!

As for knitting, I did start working on the Shalom Cardigan using the "mystery" yarn I blogged about last week. The yarn feels great and I think this is going to knit up quickly. It's fairly mindless so I can take it with me to my book group this week (unless, of course, we are snowed out). But for my business trip to Chicago this coming weekend, I think I'll take my Monkey Socks, which have been on my needles for ages as a back-up project. It would be nice to have another pair of socks to rotate in to my sock drawer during these cold, snowy days!

Repurposing Yarn

I went to my first Big Apple Knitters Guild meeting last Saturday, to meet a friend who had been my classmate in the Craft Yarn Council's Certified Instructor Program at FIT in December.

The January BAKG meeting is always a yarn auction that benefits the Guild. Given the tremendous size of my stash, I sat and knit through 99% of the auction and didn't bid on anything, until a lonely bag of what looked like dark green and black variegated yarn came up at the end of the auction. No one seemed to want it, and I thought it was pretty, so I bid $3 and got it. My friend recommended that I reskein and wash the yarn, since it was wound into very tight balls and washing it would give it new life (and remove any trace of pets if there had been any in the previous yarn owner's home).

I went home that night and did just that, winding the yarn around my knees instead of getting out my wooden swift and ball winder. Lo and behold, I discovered that the yarn was actually a strand of dark green wool and a strand of black wool wound together:

but some of the balls had a fuzzy, thin black strand instead of one that matched the thickness and characteristics of the dark green.

Once my skeins were washed and hung to dry, I studied them and decided to get rid of the fuzzy thin black and replace it with a comparable black yarn once I knew the yarn weight. When all were dry and beautifully rewound into cakes,

I determined that each yarn was worsted weight, and held together, they made a bulky weight that watched to about 14 stitches/4" on #9 needles.

I have about 380 yards of the dark green/black combo, and another 338 yards of the dark green that will wait for a comparable black companion (I think KnitPicks Wool of the Andes will work just fine). And I've decided that the Shalom Cardigan will look great knit up in this yarn. I'll probably order the KnitPicks yarn within the next week and hopefully cast on soon!

Some people may be wondering whether all of this work and analysis was worth it for a $3 bag of yarn, but I got a lot of satisfaction out of this whole process and learned a great deal. Besides, I think it's kind of cool to repurpose yarn that has its own mysterious history. I'll keep you posted as the story continues!

P.S. I've been busy making several very warm knitted accessories, starting with my Never-ending Story Cowl. Will post details soon!

Transitions

As winter has FINALLY turned to spring, my husband and I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Spain, where we enjoyed some time with our daughter who is studying in Seville this semester, and spent some time alone in Madrid at the end of the trip. Spain did not disappoint on this, our third trip to the country. The food continues to get better, the people are warm and friendly, and the breadth of history never ceases to amaze.

My daughter couldn't wait to point out a yarn shop she's seen in her neighborhood--but alas, when we walked by, it was siesta time

and the shop was closed. I probably saved myself some money--but was somewhat surprised when it dawned on me that I hadn't researched yarn shops in Spain before we left--something I usually do before any trip! I think I was too caught up in figuring out which projects I'd take with me!

I finished two projects on the trip--another striped cowl to replace the one I sold in my Etsy shop just prior to our leaving, and a pair of socks, the Sweet Tart Anklets (I made mine longer than anklets) that I've been working on as a secondary (or tertiary) project for a year! They are very springy and they may go to my daughter when she gets home. They were made from sock stash--a while different category--from a years-ago Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock club. ALMOST done with those skeins!

 

 

I also worked on the Riding to Avalon hoodie that I had started as part of my project to use my oldest stash and work forward. The yarn was Ella Rae Silkience in a beautiful pink shade--I had bought it in 2008! Needless to say, the design I was going to make with it doesn't interest me anymore, and nothing--including the hoodie that I worked on throughout two excellent movies on the plane ride home--worked. The hoodie ended up being too big, and I was making the smallest size and using the smallest needles possible without making the fabric stiff. So I decided to sell the yarn. That was a very liberating feeling--sometimes a purchase just isn't meant to be, and if the yarn goes to a good home, all the better! 

Today I started fresh by winding the NEXT item in my stash--that is a skein of Schaefer Anne (also discontinued), that I believe I won around 2008-2009. It's a beautiful melange of earthy colors--bronze, gold, and a pinky coral. I'm going to cast on the My Hope shawl, by Laura Linneman, and have ordered beautiful gold/pink beads from my favorite bead purveyor, Earthfaire, for the beaded bind-off.

I'm looking forward to casting this on with the new Signature needles I ordered to reward myself for winning my office's March Madness pool!

In the meantime, I'm working on the project I left home, the Wrap Me up, Buttercup! shawl from Dancing Leaf Farms. The goal of sneaking this project in is to finish something that I bought at last year's Maryland Sheep & Wool before this year's event comes around. I would like to go again with my sisters, but I may have a conflict with my kids' comings and goings around that time. We'll see. The shawl is a ton of fun--six individual yarns alternate to make a great-looking pattern--this will be a show-stopper once it's done. Easy stitches and no shaping (it's a big rectangle), so good mindless TV knitting.

 

I Love My Poncho!

I bought the yarn for the Easy Folded Poncho back in November, but several projects for kids, my Etsy shop, etc. got ahead of this in line. Since it's a warm garment made from luscious 100% Alpaca from Juniper Moon Farms, AND it has a generous cowl neck, I wanted to finish it while the weather was still cold so I could appreciate its warmth. Well, Mother Nature has cooperated and it's still below freezing here in NJ. I finished the poncho, including knitting and blocking the cowl, earlier this week, and am now ready to wear it into NYC for dinner and a show tonight!

Since this project included 50 inches of stockinette, I thought I'd use it as an opportunity to try a bunch of different needles. Here is a quick synopsis of my thoughts on each (all were size 6 and none seemed to change the gauge of my work):

• Signature Needles--I ordered the 5" stiletto tips. These were my absolute favorite (and the most expensive!). I love them so much that I ordered another pair in size 7 and hope to start collecting them in different sizes. These are truly the Rolls Royce of knitting needles!
• HiyaHiya Sharps--Love these as well. Nice, sharp tips, very light and flexible cord that would be amazing for Magic Looping. As these are at a much better price point than the Signatures, I may think about getting a full set.
• KnitPicks Caspians--I have three KnitPicks Interchangeable sets already, but I fell in love with these green wood tips and green cord when I saw them online. The tips are sharp and work as well if not better than my other KnitPicks needles. Again, I might ponder a full set, just because!
• Knitter's Pride Karbonz--While these are great needles--perhaps a lower-priced version of Signatures--they didn't seem worth the price for me vs. any of the others I tried. I will try them on another project and see if I change my mind and want to add these to my collection in greater quantity. The one plus of these over Signatures is that the cords work for any Knitter's Pride needles, as well as for KnitPicks needles, so you get a very nice, high quality needle without having to invest in separate cords like you do with the Signatures.

Finally, I ordered one set of DyakCraft Darn Pretty wood needles, but alas, after several weeks, they still have not arrived. If I like them when they eventually get here, I think my best bet is to buy a set from someone on Ravelry, rather than wait the year for my own set. But then again, I have so many needles that I COULD wait....will decide when my sample arrives--hopefully within the next few weeks.

Now that I've worn the poncho, I'm ready for spring!

The Boyfriend Scarf

I know there is that superstition that a girl shouldn't knit a sweater for her boyfriend before they're officially a couple, but I don't think it applies to 1)the girl's mother knitting for the boyfriend and 2) a scarf rather than a sweater! At least I hope not, because I just finished a gorgeous scarf for my daughter's boyfriend, which I will add to a package of gifts she left for me to send to him while she is studying abroad in Europe this semester.

I am so happy with this scarf. The pattern is Christian's Scarf by Agnes Kutas-Keresztes. There is a matching hat pattern on Ravelry also (both are free!). This was a wonderful, rhythmic pattern that was fun, easy and looks fantastic--no curling, just the right amount of texture. The Cascade 220 Superwash that I used was the perfect yarn--softened up with soaking (and a little spin through the dryer after blocking), very durable and just the right weight. My daughter chose the very rich, not quite black shade called Jet. I definitely want to make this scarf again. Can't wait to see how the boyfriend likes it--I will mail it in a few weeks.

Another very successful part of this project was the use of the Inspinity Premium Blocking wires. I bought these a few years ago and they are fantastic. The set comes with a number of different lengths; they are very flexible (almost like threading a needle in and out of the rows and produce a beautiful result. I highly recommend them!

Hand Knits Are a Bright Spot in a Cold Winter

It's been unusually cold here in NJ as well as throughout the US, as I don't have to tell most of you. I was struck the other night, when I mustered all  of my motivation to walk out the door in sub-10-degree-weather and a foot of snow and drive to my book group meeting. When I walked in, our hostess asked me to take my boots off at the door, and when I walked into the meeting, where some of my fellow readers are also knitters, I was greeted with admiration about the number of hand-knits I wore and carried:

• a hand-knit, mohair sweater (knit pre-Ravelry, so no photos or links!)
• hand-knit socks
• a hand-knit cowl and matching mitts from one of my favorite cold-weather yarns, Misti Alpaca Chunky
• and I carried a hand-knit, felted bag, which contained my current WIP, a beautiful men's scarf for my daughter's boyfriend

It struck me that, although I hate the cold, it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to wear so many of my knits at once and to know that they are the best antidote to being cold. My husband and daughter have been wearing their hand-knit socks every day during this cold spell, and my son, braving his first winter at college in Michigan, is grateful for the bulky scarf and hat I made him.

I even made a sale of a warm, bulky hat in my Etsy shop! This makes me want to drop everything and knit 24/7 (so does the fact that I don't want to go outside!) This makes me even more determined to do something to make knitting more of a part of my life--and find a work solution that will allow me to devote more time to this craft that I love so much. I hope 2014 will be the year that I finally make it happen.

Stay warm, everyone!

Happy 2014!

It's been a little while since I've posted--I've been enjoying time with my children who are home from college, and have been putting regularly scheduled knitting projects on hold to make them some warm slippers to take back to school. Their friends are next. I really take a lot of pleasure in knitting for my kids and their friends--they appreciate the items and I feel like I'm enveloping them in love and warmth.

In perusing my Ravelry projects page, it looks like I completed 16 projects in 2013--including an afghan for my son to take to college, several scarves and cowls, and a sweater for my daughter. I also knit several projects that were sold in my Etsy shop, although I would have liked the number of projects sold to be higher than it was.

For 2014, I am committed to taking some Craftsy classes and hopefully the Craft Yarn Council Certified Instructors program so I can begin to realize my goal of incorporating knitting into my next career stage. I had hoped to take the leap in 2013, and to devote more time to preparing over the holidays, but it just hasn't happened yet. I'm not giving up--I'll use this forum to keep me on goal and I'm committed to reporting to you, my readers, about my progress. Help me stay motivated to realize my dream if you can!

Wishing a Happy, Healthy, productive and peaceful new year to all.

Activity!

Have been working hard on many fronts--my "day job," my personal knitting (I'm participating in the 2 KnitLit Chicks Poncho Comeback KAL; I'm making the Easy Folded Poncho pattern with the  that I bought a few weeks ago. Using luscious Juniper Moon Farm Herriott (100% alpaca). I've had several "false starts" until I think I arrived at the dimensions that will fit my small frame and the seed stitch edging that will keep me from going crazy with severely rolling edges.

Then, just got several new orders in my Etsy shop from a dear friend. I'm hoping this will be the start of a busy holiday season and maybe my "new direction" will be able to begin. Stay tuned.

Favorite New Stretchy Bind-Off

I have been experimenting with various cast-ons and bind-offs since I've been doing so many accessories for my shop. Many of these items (headbands, some of my hats, fingerless mitts) need stretchy cast-ons and/or bind-offs. Since I've gotten the excellent book, Cast On, Bind Off, 54 Step by Step Methods, by Leslie Ann Bestor of WEBS, I've found a treasure trove of methods to try.

The winner today: The Lace Bind Off (aka Russian, Purl Two Together) which I used for my latest headband.

It doesn't leave a gap between the last row of knitting and the bind-off, as some of these methods do. Instead, it leaves a nice, neat, but stretchy finished edge. It's also quick and easy. I'll continue to try and report on other techniques!