Yarn

Fall Surprise Knitting Box & Hats

/ LDSVenus / 10 Comments

I got my 3rd and final Fall Surprise Knitting Box from Twice Sheared Sheep. I don’t think anyone who gets this box follows me so I wouldn’t be giving anything away in case some haven’t gotten theirs yet. Lots of goodies! I forgot to put the bear tin back in the box for a picture of the full box, so I added it to the other things I took out to get a better picture of. I love the wolves mug, will serve many hot chocolate drinks! The mini skeins are a dk weight. Not sure what I will make with those, will have to think on it, they are soft :). There is a huge hat pom in there too! Will give the bag to my grand daughter M for her crochet, she is trying to learn. Love the counting stitch marker with the tree of life on it, it matches the progress keeper I made with a charm I received with one of my other fiber purchases. I’ll try to get a picture of that eventually, I keep forgetting (what else is new). The mushroom stitch markers I will use for progresss keepers :). I do love the bear tin for stitch markers and the very cute hedgehog tape measure. The card in there (took a picture of front and back) shows what is in the box and tells a little about them. She will be taking orders for the boxes again in Jan I think.

The first picture is of hats that I knit every year. I use I love this Yarn Print (it comes in various colors) by Hobby Lobby. I like the striping effect it gives on hats. This year they are going to a family of children who lost their mom (3 boys and a girl). I thought they might appreciate new hats for winter. Hope they will like them. For this pattern I use worsted weight yarn, and cast on 89 stitches (for small and medium adults), knitting in the round, doing a 2X2 rib (the extra stitch at the last is knitted with the first stitch to make a good join in the round. I use a 16″ circular needle, my favorite is the Karbonz, it’s carbon with a metal like tip so It’s light weight. I use size 5 needle because I knit a little looser with my knitting style (continental combined) but the pattern calls for a size 6. The 2X2 rib makes it pretty stretchy. You can use less stitches for children, or a lighter weight yarn adjusting your needle size, for a smaller hat, just make sure it’s an odd number of stitches.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weather before winter gets here. We are still going between fall and summer weather and I wish the first frost would come early, my allergies are so NOT FUN, even my antihistamine is not doing the trick this year, and I’ve tried several, sigh.

Summer Surprise Box Club is Here!

/ LDSVenus / 8 Comments

I have been so excited for this box from Twice Sheared Sheep to get here! The first picture was the box packed with all the “stuff”! I put pictures up of each thing so you could see them up close, starting with the card that came in it with a description of all the pretties! The next 2 pictures are the Project Journal Stationary Set. The plastic page is a needle and crochet sizer and a 4″ stitch gauge and ruler that fits in the knitting journal I got in the Spring, then there are two really cute sparkly pens :). The next picture is a beautiful octopus collectable tin and the tin dividers to seperate your stitch makers and progress keepers. Without the dividers you can put small scissors and a small tape measure in this large tin. I really love it. The next picture is an odd and even numbered stitch marker set, I am making a diagonal scarf and I only increase and decrease on one side so this will make it ease to see what side of the project I’m on because it’s a garter stitch project :), and with it is a cute set of sea creatures stitch markers :). Next to the last picture is some beautiful fingering weight yarn by Cornbread & Honey Yarn. It is so pretty and has 490 yds!!! Last, but hardly least, is a really cute sea creature project bag with a zippered pocket on the back side, it matches the set of sea creatures stitch markers :). I did forget to get a separate picture of the two cute stickers, but you can see them in the first picture of the box. Love this box. :). One more box for this year in the Fall. :). This has been fun!

I bought 2 sets of stitch markers from Adore Knit, but I have to take pictures of them, will try to get them up tomorrow :).

FO, The Winter Tree in Spring, and Hibiscus

/ LDSVenus / 6 Comments

I made two more dish cloths from the Hobby Lobby’s I Love this Yarn cotton. It’s a very soft cotton and I like it! These were a gift for a friend.

The 2nd picture is the Tree that I always show in the snow shots in the winter, so I thought I would show you it actually has a different life in the spring and summer :).

The 3rd picture is a braided Hibiscus tree. I love the flowers. It was a gift from my daughter for Mother’s Day, but she gave it to me early because she was afraid she would kill it before then, lol. I have small plants in my house but this is the first tree. I hope I don’t kill it either. I’ll set it outside for 6 hrs everyday when it warms up a bit and it’s not windy so it can get more sun than by my sliding glass door because it doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight, tho it said it liked indirect sunlight too, maybe it’s not too picky!

Storms here today, tho so far they haven’t been too bad. But more storms tomorrow and Sunday. We will see what happens, we could use the rain.

My Spring Knitting Box :)

/ LDSVenus / 11 Comments

This came from Twice Sheared Sheep. She has a Christmas Advent box, that can be signed up for, but I’m not sure when she will open it to be pre-ordered, they go fast. This box is part of 3 boxes of 2024, spring, summer and fall, and they have to be signed up for by sometime in Feb. Next year is the next time to sign up for them.

OK! In the first picture is everything that was in the box, then I took pictures to show them a little better. I didn’t show the bag in a separate picture because it showed up well in the main picture (sorry forgot to get a picture of the bell flower stitch markers and they are hard to see in the main picture, you can see them better in the 3rd picture). I was so excited to see these beautiful gifts. The 2nd and 3rd pictures are just more explanation of the items in the box. The yarn is beautiful and so is the round (rather than long) dried flower stitch counter/marker, and the stitch marker tin (it slides open) and the journal are so cool. I have a picture of the outside and inside of the journal, you can put so much information in it! I was so excited to see the blockers, I have wanted (but never justified the money because I’m cheap :P) some of these so I didn’t have to put the millions of straight pins in to block a shawl or scarf etc (yeah I will need another box or two of these). The stickers are cool as well. I hope there will be a tin separator in the next box for the tin, it makes an oblong X in the box to separate the different knitting stitch markers/progress keepers or you can not put one in and put small scissors and a needle in instead. One for each of the bags I use is my eventual plan, they come in a smaller size as well.

Had to take my car in this past Monday for an oil change and tune up. I make sure the oil is changed when it should be and do the tune up every year because it’s cheaper to do those things than to buy a new engine, tho those things aren’t cheap anymore either. I also had them check my battery strength and my brakes. They also checked all my fluid levels and said my battery and brakes were fine. I have a great mechanic and the business is always good to and honest with me, they never do extra stuff that didn’t need to be done. I’ve been going to them for about 13 years. I would have rather slept in but my car comes first, no car means no way to get around lol. I am still meeking (my way to say complaining) about losing an hr of sleep in the mornings, because going to bed early is not my natural time clock. I should be use to it about the time they change the clock back, sigh.

FO (Finished Object for My Non Knitting Friends)

/ LDSVenus / 7 Comments

I finished the In Thirds dishcloth, free pattern on Ravelry. I really like the I love this Cotton by Hobby Lobby. It’s very soft and I like how the colors were laid out. Tho, like most cotton yarns, I imagine with repeated washings the colors will fade a lot over time. It says to use a size 8 needle but I like the fabric to be a little tighter knit for the dishcloths. Normally, because I knit a little loser, I would have just gone down one needle size but since I wanted it a little tighter than normal I went down 3 sizes to a needle size 5 and I like the fabric it makes better. I have enough for another one and maybe a 3rd one if I don’t mind playing a little yarn chicken :). I’m getting ready to cast on the 2nd one.

After the 18th I’ll share about something I don’t normally do but decided to bite the bullet and spend a little more money than I would normally allow my self to do on some knitting things. It’s kinda like people do for the Christmas yarn advent calendars. I’ll go into a little more detail when I talk about it after the 18th :). I got my first box and I’m so excited to share what was sent!

The weatherman says we have a storm, coming in the wee hours of tomorrow morning through tomorrow evening, that could produce “gorilla” hail, yeah the big stuff, but I think that will more than likely be in the state below us, tho I’m sure we will have some wind and rain. Take care everyone!

The Shepards Market and Some Loot!

/ LDSVenus / 3 Comments

The first picture is the “loot” I bought at the fiber show, I can’t believe I only bought one thing out of so many wonderful things there. This is some CVM, part of it was blended with some blue and light teal, the other part is the natural color roving. They came together for about 4 1/4 ozs. My plan is to blend it all together (slowly so I don’t get any neps in it.) CVM is very springy and tho not merino soft it is still next to the skin soft. I’ll post a picture after I blend it on my drum carder, hopefully I will do a good job and it will be beautiful :).

I started another dish cloth using the I Love This Yarn, cotton. First time using this cotton and so for I like it. I am knitting the In Thirds dishcloth it’s a free pattern on Ravelry and one of my favorites. I’m using my favorite needles for this, I’ve had them for years, it’s a nylon needle, size 5, I think the pattern calls for size 6 or 7, but I like the fabric I get using this. I don’t use them as dish clothes, I like to use them to put hot things on so I can handle them (like a bowl of hot soup I want to eat in my recliner while watching a favorite show. 😛

Have sure been enjoying the weather since the end of January, we got up to 80 this past Sunday but are in the 50’s and 40’s this week. We are in an El Niño weather pattern since last year, but starting in the fall the weather man says it turns into a La Niña, so will prepare for a colder snowier winter with coming winter, sigh.

WIP Bulky Cabled Alpaca Hat

/ LDSVenus / 11 Comments

This WIP (work in progress, for my non knitting friends) hopefully soon will be an FO (finished object, again for my non knitting friends.). I started this a few weeks ago and the progress was not fun as I had eye surgery on both eyes 2 weeks apart about a month and 1/2 ago and seeing anything close was, well to blurry to see. I had an around the neck magnifying glass my daughter got for me but it made everything look 3D, lol. So I’d knit for a bit then put it down and the Ott light my son got me was awesome for light.  But last week I found a pair of my old glasses from 4 years ago and I can see through the midrange section to read!!  So I have started working on this hat again for my son-in-law, who gets to go out in this very cold weather to do farm chores with the alpaca. 

I had made him a hat some months earlier but it was a bit tight and even tho he said it a fine, it wasn’t fine to me, so this new one. The yarn is bulkier (yes the yarn is from their alpaca :)) and I went up a size needles so I wouldn’t have to adjust the stitch count, this should be correct, the pattern was written for a woman’s size and my son-in-law can’t wear that size very well.  Because the yarn is bulkier, I did not make this a fold up brim, it would just be too heavy. You see a new owl chain stitch counter on there. I had to order an XL one that had bigger rings for the bigger needles (size 11).  I love it, it keeps the count so I don’t have to go back and keep recounting as I get closer to the row for the cable, saves time and aggravation having to keep recounting. I get these from Twice Sheared Sheep . The link is to her best sellers so you can see some of the things she carries, but to see all her things just click the home link and then on the 3 horizontal bars on the top left of her home page. She has some for only up to 5 rows, and some that are in a circle if you don’t like the one going to 10 rows hanging down so far on your work. There is a little clip thing on it (you can see it on the 0 by the owl) and I suspect it is for counting crochet rows instead of using the rings that go on the knitting needle, but as a knitter I would use to put on the numbers to tell me how many times I’ve done the 10 rows in case I needed more than 10 rows so I wouldn’t lose count (think socks). Her things are pretty darn cool!

I go back next week for a vision check and to get updated glasses, so my sight should be adjusted back to normal, yea! 🙂

Hope everyone is staying warm, we had -30’s again last night and for tonight -20’s, but starting on Monday we get our midwinter thaw and will be in the 30’s woot woot!!!

The Color of Fall and an FO

/ LDSVenus / 4 Comments

These are all shots of the beautiful fall colors I was able to take this week. Well the 2nd picture I took last week and a week later I took a picture of the same trees (3rd picture) and you can see their color progress. Amazing how fast the leaf colors change and all the colors they make.

The last picture is the FO. This is the Classic Cables Hat and Mittens by Destiny Meyer pattern, (I only knit the hat) that I was getting ready to start, link to my post on this. It fit Ev, but because the size for this was for a woman’s medium and I was knitting this for a man I used the larger needle size that it mentioned in the needles section for a larger or slouchy hat and added an extra cable vertically to make it a little longer. Also if I make this for him again, I will also add about 1 & 1/2 inches to the cuff so it will sit well below his ears when it’s folded up, men have larger heads than women ;P, he said it was fine the way it was, but I like things to be better than fine :P. A link to her shop can be found here, this pattern is on sale on this page of her patterns, but I don’t know how long the sale lasts :).

Cabled Hat for Ev out of Their Alpaca Yarn

/ LDSVenus / 6 Comments

About a month ago Ev handed me a couple of skeins of his bulky alpaca yarn from Everest (one of their male alpacas – he has the softest fiber! This yarn is actually a bit lighter than what shows) and asked me if I could knit him a hat and I said of course, he’s such a sweetie how could I not! My son told him it didn’t have to be fancy it was just to stay warm during our very cold winters for feeding the alpaca but I disagree, if it’s a fancy yarn it needs to be a fancy hat :P. This is the paid for pattern for bulky yarn I chose. I got the yarn wound into a ball and am ready to start knitting it. Was going to start it today but got distracted and will start it tomorrow.

This coming Saturday I will be at the farm spinning because it’s Alpaca Days for all the local alpaca farms. Suppose to rain but my son will have me set up in the garage so my wheel and I don’t get wet. So glad it’s cooled down, this summer was hot and oppressively humid!!!

My hay fever has started, UGH! Hope everyone is doing well!

Fiber Festival!

/ LDSVenus / 7 Comments

I got to go to a fiber festival in Iowa City with my son and his spouse (they sell their alpaca fiber and yarn there each year). It was so fun. In the first picture I bought a yarn bowl , (a vendor had some beautiful hand crafted pottery ones there but since I don’t use them very often I didn’t want to spend $60 on one, so I bought a a plastic one that will still serve it’s purpose. I might get one at a later date, they were beautiful!), some spinning oil for my wheels and a machine embroidered lap cloth for when I am spinning. The lap cloth helps you keep the fiber off your clothes but it’s also wonderful if you are spinning dark fiber to have a light back ground so you can see it better. I also have a less fancy one that a friend made for me that I use that also has a dark back ground on the other side for when you are spinning light colored fiber, and I love it. I bought a really pretty hand dyed skein of yarn, that I am not sure what to do with it yet, it’s a fingering weight, so maybe a pair of socks or fingerless mitts? I found and bought this lovely smelling soap and hand cream that is made from goats milk and the hand cream felt so nice on my hands, am looking forward to using the soaps. I brought home some of my son’s yarn and loose spinning fiber. All of the alpaca is soft, but the black fiber is cria (baby alpaca) and oh my it’s extra soft, I can hardly wait to spin it up. I have started another cabled hat, love the feel of the alpaca yarn when I’m knitting. I’m using a lighter shade of brown (the one in the yarn bowl pictured above, the picture looks a bit darker than the shade of brown of the yarn in rl) so the cables will show better. And my son took me over to look at a different vendor’s hand crafted diz’s (for my spinning). They were made of brass, I hemmed and hawed over which one I wanted, they were all beautiful, and when I went to pay for it my son said nope, I got it mom. So I have this beautiful brass hand made diz as a gift from my son and his spouse. How lucky can a mom get. 🙂

There will be another fiber festival that they sell toward the end of this month and I will get to go to that one too!! I’ll post about it when we get back from that one. I did forget to take pictures yesterday, but I’ll try to get a few pictures from this coming one.

Hope everyone in the mid-west is enjoying the warmer weather this year, sorry that we in the mid-west have spread around our normally ugly winter weather to other states this year and that we got milder weather, nope not sorry :P.