Sweaters

Hummingbird Feeder – Birds? And Knitting Update.

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Well not hummingbirds, but other birds seem to find it inviting even if they can’t eat from it, sigh. I think they are probably just waiting for my neighbor to take down her flowers and put up the bird feeder lol, so in the meantime they are just hanging out.

Update on my Flax baby sweater by Tin Can Knits. Just one more sleeve to go! At least the baby sweater sleeves don’t take as long as the adult sleeves! This will look better when it’s blocked. Hope my friend is surprised with this gift for her new grandson when I get this sent off to her :).

Handspun Yarn and a Baby Sweater

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My son is using his EEW 6.0 electric spinner. He is having a blast with it and it’s better with each skein spun, these were before washing. He is enjoying it and Ev said it was even peaceful to just watch him spin. :). I’m so glad he enjoys the things that bring peace in my life.

The 2nd picture is another flax baby sweater I’m working on for a long time friend whose daughter is expecting a son :). I have a city apt inspection coming up next week and they always stress me out, they shouldn’t but they always do. I’ve got other things I need to be knitting on, but I needed something I didn’t have to think about to much to keep me occupied until after next week and this did it. The yoke is the only thing I need to pay attention to and even that is not to bad, the rest is just mindless knitting on circular knitting needles :).

It’s been a bit windy for the last few days, but it’s Spring! I have finally seen the male robins as they’ve arrived back in the area, but unfortunately it’s when I’m driving and I can’t stop to get a picture, sigh. If I see one when I can get a picture I will post it. :). The females should be arriving in about 2 weeks.

FO and a Little Gift from a Friend :)

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I finished the Flax baby sweater for a church friend. Her baby was about 2 weeks early and weighed a little over 6 lbs. The sweaters I knit in the 6 month to 1 years size, so about Feb he should be able to wear it if they roll the sleeves up a bit and it will fit him next fall into next winter. 🙂 I like to make them a little large so they can wear them longer than a couple of months because sweaters are a little more time consuming than a hat or booties.

The next picture is a gift I received from a friend, whom I help with her mail packages when they go on vacation in the summer. I love this, it is my favorite mug!!! Yes, it has hot chocolate with marshmallows in it, what else?

I’m dealing with getting well from a rather ugly cold, at least it’s a head cold and not a chest cold (which drags on for 6 to 8 weeks of coughing). People tell me everyone is getting this so I’ll be thankful it was enough time before Christmas that I can enjoy Christmas instead of staying home and being sick.

Looks like we might be minus temps at night next week with wind chills and a little snow but not much they said. Should just be glad we didn’t get all the lake effect feet of snow they got by the lakes a little farther east a week or two ago! Hope you all are staying well and warm!

More Knitting Accountability and 1st Ground Cover Snow for Winter 2022-23

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Trying to stay on task for my knitting accountability. I am ready to start on the sleeves of the Tin Can Knits Flax baby sweater, then to weave in ends, wash the sweater and then gift it ;). I’ll get one more picture when it’s done before I gift it. The 2nd picture is another Dandelion Headband. I should have taken the picture on a dark background but it’s already been gifted, so sorry :P. I think I am going to make her a cowl with this design for next year. I need to keep working on the hats for warmth project.

The last picture is the first ground cover snow we had a week or week & 1/2 ago. It didn’t stay long our weather was cold for about 3 or 4 days and then back into the middle to upper 30’s and 40’s. 🙂 I know it’s coming, but every day winter is not fully here yet is one less day of winter before Spring and one day less you have to hear me ask “Is it Spring yet?”

Hope everyone had a good time with family and friends and enjoyed some Thanksgiving dinner. Even the alpaca at my son’s farm got to have carrots for Thanksgiving (one of their favorite snacks) amazing how friendly they are when they know you are bringing them carrots, lol.

Knitting Accountability

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I haven’t done this in a while so I thought I would catch up my blog on my knitting.

I have knit 2 charity hats and one in progress. When I get 4 or 5 done I will take them to the shelter and start on the next batch. They are a simple 2X2 rib stitch with a fold over brim for extra warmth on the ears. They are easy to make and one of my mindless knits when I don’t have the head space for more complicated things and need the peace myself, and they are helping others.

The next 2 pictures are of a test knit that I did. I took a picture of the front and back because the darker front didn’t show the pattern as well as the lighter back (the yarn, Loops and Threads Impressions, is a bulky, slightly fuzzy yarn that fades from dark to light and back again), you might want to keep that in mind if you buy this pattern and make it ;). This is a headband for those that don’t like to wear hats but their ears get cold. The pattern is called Dandelion Headband. It was a fun pattern with an interesting stitch to make the dandelion flowers. You can find the pattern on Ribblr, the designer is Cloud9 Atelier . Ribbler is free but you need to make a account to use it. This is a paid pattern that you can buy, but they also have some free patterns and they have a very interesting online user-active pattern format that I like and my free patterns are on there too. This was a fun knit. I will definitely knit it again.

The last picture is another Tin Can Knits Flax baby sweater, a free pattern, you can find the needle sizes I use here on earlier post. I made a change in yarn because I didn’t want to have to mess with the color management of stripes and having to weave in all those ends lol. I’m using Hobby Lobby’s, Yarn Bee, Warm & Cozy, it’s very soft and in this size (6 months to 1 year) one skein might be all I need, but I bought 2 just in case, no sense inviting “Murphy’s Law”, he’s not our friend. It is acrylic, nylon and polyester, medium weight – worsted). I haven’t made one of these baby sweaters in a little bit an forgot how enjoyable they are to knit (the baby sweaters anyway because they don’t take forever :P).

Hope everyone is enjoying the little bit of a warm up before winter finally gets here. Farmer’s Almanac (see picture above) says it will be a hibernation zone about mid Jan & snow filled this year for my area, how about your area? Wonder if it will be right this year?

Another FO and a WIP Plus Our First Snow Flurries of the Winter

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The FO (finished object) will be the last of the striped Flax baby sweaters. I will still knit the Flax baby sweaters but I have decided to go with muted or mottled colors so I don’t have color management on the sleeve stripes to have to fool with. It will make them faster and less fussy to knit, less weaving in of ends and more enjoyable since I knit so many of them :P.

My WIP (work in progress) is another charity hat, a simple 2X2 with a fold up brim to give extra warmth to the ears. I know it’s a simple stitch and hat construction but I always try to use pretty yarn colors so the recipients will enjoy it in warmth and looks. I should have this done by next week and ready to send a package out to our local homeless shelter with a few hats in it. If any of you knit or crochet or sew and feel so inclined, this would be a great time of year to make some hats, mittens, or scarfs for your local homeless shelters. There is always a need.

I have another WIP that I need to get to, I will get a picture of it after I get started on it. I’m finishing it for a friend and I need to get my head around where she was at in the pattern and what the pattern is all about. I keep telling my self it’s a hat, it can’t be that hard, we will see :).

I knew that this would eventually happen, I mean it is November and Winter is almost upon us, but I was hoping for a few more weeks or months :P. No accumulation just flurries but it’s a reminder of what is coming soon. I know out west they have already been bombarded with that white stuff, ugh. Next week we will be back up into the 40’s but colder nights, most below freezing. I will enjoy those warmer days for as long as I can before our much colder sub zero winter weather gets here, brrrr. I did get my car tuned up, new battery, tires and brakes in prep for winter this year. I hate when all of those come due at the same time for winter because here, if any of that is due, it’s a must. Just a heads up too, my mechanic said tires may be harder to find in the next few months, so my advise is, if you need them, don’t put it off.

Wishing everyone a blessed day!

An FO and And a WIP

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I have finished the comfort shawl I was working on for a friend at church. It’s a free pattern and I have linked it to the Raverly page. It’s a nice mindless knit so you can think about why you’re knitting it, or if it’s not for someone else, you can think about whatever you want :P. I used 4 skeins of Lion Brand Home Spun yarn. It looks like it has grey in it, but that is lavender, again not a great camera or maybe it’s just me :P.

I have started another Flax Baby Sweater by Tin Can Knits , I really like knitting this sweater, it is in sizes 0 to 6XL. The color way I’m using is Teal Stripe and as usually I have to do a little color management on the sleeves. For future baby sweaters, since I am knitting so many of these :P, I will be using Yarn Bee Warm and Cozy that is kinda solid colors, but not quite, they have a slightly shaded feel to them so no color management.

Fall is here, we are still in the 60’s and 70’s (F) which is fine :), but the leaves are starting to change because we are into the 40’s at night off and on now. Only nice thing about fall is my electric bill goes down, lol. Gotta take your blessings where you can, and I wouldn’t mind fall as much but it means winter is right around the corner and I am not a winter kinda girl. 30, 40 and 50F below zero temps are not my cup of tea, but I have to admit, hot chocolate helps, but then chocolate helps most things, lol.

Happy Labor Day and Some Knitting Accountablity

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Hope everyone had a great Labor Day week end!

Taking a moment for some knitting accountability, otherwise some times I just wouldn’t get anything done, like the socks I have not been working on, sigh, but I am working on the last sleeve of this flax baby sweater and then just to weave in ends. Seems, for some reason, there is more color management than normal, not sure why, hoping I’m not playing yarn chicken with the lightest color before going back to the darkest color on the sleeve. Time will tell. I’ve also been putting in a bit of work on the current charity hat, time to give them to the shelter is coming up fast.

I have been spinning the cria roving as well. Two more small re-wrapped pieces of the roving to go (had to unwind and re-wind the larger 3.5 oz bump into smaller pieces to handle better), then on to plying :).

Knitting and Spinning Updates and a New Cria!

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In the first picture are some of the things I am actively working on, a little girl baby sweater (yes the Flax :)), it’s in the Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek in Coral colorway. The larger item is a garter stitch comfort shawl in Lion Brand Homespun in the Waterfall Cascade colorway. The last item is the hat I will be knitting for my family member out of the lavender hand-spun (wool with a little alpaca blended in) that is showing in the next picture. I haven’t started the hat (Snowtracks Cap by Timothy Peters) yet, but I did get it wound into a ball. I actually enjoy the hand winding process, I find it a mindless and peaceful experience, well except when it is tangled as I wind, then it’s just an experience :P.

The next picture is all the yarn I’ve spun this year, (well except the orange skein it was a fractal spin I did last year, it’s just pretty :P).

The next two pictures are the alpaca cria (baby alpaca) roving I am spinning on my Rick Reeves double drive wheel. The alpaca fiber is butter soft as it goes through my fingers, and oh my it almost spins itself!! This roving was from a cria fleece that my daughter bought me a few years back that I had sent off to a mill in the east to turn into roving and they did a tremendous job!!

The last picture is one of my son’s alpaca, Summit, and her new cria, who was born this last Thursday, isn’t he a cutie, he’s white just like his mom! His dad was a beautiful fawn color from another herd. They have one more cria to be born in the next two weeks and that will make 4 new babies this year.

One FO and Getting Ready for the Heel on the Sock

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Tin Can Knits Flax baby sweater is done! I wish to color was better, blame my phone :(. It goes from dark brown to light brown to cream to white. It’s really a nice striping yarn, I give more info on the yarn here, you’ll need to scroll down a bit. I just did a reg bind off on the sweater bottom without following the knits and pearls, not sure I like that, so I did the bind off on the sleeves following the knits and the pearls, and I like that better.

My sock is almost ready for the heel, I have two more rows before I start it. The heel is always the fidgety part for me, maybe someday will be use to it :).

My back is slowly getting better, herniated disks that decide to bulge are a pain, literally. My son will be picking up the love birds they gave me because cleaning up after them (they are very messy birds, they love to chew up paper, which is fine but it gets under the cages so that I have to get on my hands and knees to clean up the larger paper strips before I can vacuum) and with my back it’s getting too hard. They were his and his husband’s before they gave them to me and I’m sure they will make a spot for them again. I will miss their unique calls and sounds, but not necessarily cleaning up after them :P. I will still have my cockatiel, who is much easier to clean up after and is much more quiet :P.

Hope everyone is having a nice week end and that all the fathers have a great Father’s Day!