Yarn

My Christmas Knitting Done :)

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Basia Hat

My last knitted gift for Christmas, YEA!!  This pattern is call Basia and is a really interesting and easy knit.  Just enough texture to keep your attention but an easy texture to memorize :).  I kettle dyed this with an acid dye and it is a deeper blue than my picture shows, I’m not much of a photographer.  This is my 2nd Basia hat (made one as a Christmas gift last year) and I knit this with the same sport/dk weight yarn I had processed at the mill from the Polypay fleece I was given.  I have only one more skein of the yarn left out of 11.  I do have two more fleeces in the trunk of my car, but haven’t had the extra money to have them processed into roving or yarn.  If my car would stop being a money pit I could send them off to process :P.

1st Snow 2017-2018 This was the first snow of our 2017-2018 winter.  This was a week & 1/2 ago or so.  I should have put it up before, but…  It wasn’t much, just a dusting, and it has since melted.  We are suppose to get some snow tomorrow morning and Monday, so just in time for Christmas, tho it isn’t suppose to be much, maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 inch.  This, so far, is a very low moisture winter for us, and I won’t complain about the warmer weather, much better than -40, tho I think Jan will bring much colder temps than  we have been having.

 

3-Color Cashmere Cowl

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Yarns
3-Color Cashmere Cowl 2
3-Color Cashmere Cowl 1

I am still working on Hermione’s Everyday socks.  I have finished the leg on one sock and am getting ready to start the leg on the 2nd sock, however I have started working on the 3-Color Cashmere Cowl, shown above,  for a friend, tho it is not being knit in cashmere.  It is a nice diversion.  The yarns she purchased for it are from Stitch Together, a local yarn shop.  More info on the yarns can be found in greater detail on  my project page for this cowl on Ravelry. 😉  You may need to sign into Ravelry to view the project page.

I will post a picture of Hermione’s Everyday socks when I get the 2nd leg finished before I do the heel flap.  The color (tho beautiful) on the socks doesn’t show the pattern very well, I think I chose a color too dark for a delicate pattern.

Ready to Begin the Hermione’s Everyday Socks :)

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Dreams in Fiber sparkle socks yarn
Gift
Chocolate Frog from Harry Potter Movie
2016 Fiber Festival enhancement 🙂
Daily Prophet Newspaper from Harry Potter

Something cool I just realized I could do with WordPress, tile the photos I want to put in :).

The picture on the top left is the yarn I’m using, Dreams in Fiber colorway Loch, I bought it a little over a year ago at a fiber festival (things I bought are shown in the picture to the right) in my local city from Hanlone79 on etsy.  The top left picture is the yarn divided for the Hermione’s Everyday Socks.  It was 104 grams and using a kitchen scale I divided them into two 52 gram balls, so I can knit them two at a time, ie: do one cuff then the other, etc.

Next to that you see a beautifully wrapped package.  I joined a group on Ravelry sometime back named The Victorian Studio.  She sometimes has giveaways.  Right now she has a year long Harry Potter KAL (for non knitters that stands for knit-a-long) that she periodically draws for prizes from.  It is fun group, she knits, and spins, and sews bags and works with miniatures in polymer clay.  She is very talented and her podcasts are amazing, anyway I won one of her Chocolate Frog (a reference from Harry Potter) progress keepers :), you can see it at the bottom right of the pictures.  It is very cute and will be perfect for the socks I am getting ready to start. 🙂  I also took a close up picture of the paper it was wrapped in because it is a reproduction of the newspaper, the Daily Prophet, from Harry Potter, such attention to detail she does in the things she sends out, there was a Harry Potter ribbon around the package and her card is stamped with Owl Post, I’m elated, how lucky can one girl get!!!

Hat done!

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  I finished the hat for my friend’s 5 year old grandson who has a blood cancer.  It is the 2X2 ribbed hat from the 5 Easy Pieces – Knit Newborn Hats.   I used the Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek yarn from Hobby Lobby.  It’s very soft and was the blue and green my friend said were his favorite colors :).  I added an extra 10 stitches to the pattern and about 12 more rows because he’s not a newborn and I knew it needed to be a little larger.  I tried it on an 9 year old and tho a little snug for him it should be perfect for a 5-7 year old.  I hope he will like it.

I’m thinking about what my next project should be, honestly tho  I should be cleaning, I’d rather be knitting :P.  I’ll post when I make up my mind and start that next project.

Another Pair of Fingerless Mitts

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Te Ara Fingerless Mitts I did get the 2nd pair of fingerless mitts done for the teacher just before the end of the school year.  These are the Te Ara Fingerless Mitts and they are really pretty on, very elegant looking :).  I used the skein of V Yarn  (her etsy store is here) that I won on the Never Cast Off ravelry podcast.  The yarn was very pleasant to to knit with :).

 

I’m working on the preemie knitted caps again.  And I’m going to knit one here shortly for a friend who’s 5 year old grandson has a kind of blood cancer.  I’m sure he will be losing his hair and will enjoy a hat to wear, I’ll post a picture when I get it started.  Cancer is so ugly. 😦

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I have never seen a double yolk egg before.  Imagine my surprise when I cracked open an egg from the grocery store for my breakfast this morning and it had a double yolk.  Pretty cool :).

 

New Fiber and Tools for Knitting and Fingerless Mitts Done!

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Au Clair Fingerless

I have finished the Au Clair Fingerless Gauntlets.  I made them mitts instead by only doing 3 cables instead of 7 (which just makes them shorter.)   They were a fun knit, I hope Maddie’s teacher will enjoy them.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is some spinning fiber I bought at the Cedar Rapids Fiber Festival.  The fiber in the left corner is black (not brown as it shows), green and blue and is a BFL and Corriedale cross 64%, Alpaca 27% and Sari Silk waste 9%.  It’s very soft and oh so beautiful and is from Fiber Curio and Sundries, LLC.  The other fiber  in the top right corner I purchased is 100% Rambouille from Mountain Colors.

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I did break down and buy some knitting tools that I have been wanting for a quite a while.  The picture on the left is 2 DPN (double pointed needle) holders, which makes it really nice so the stitches don’t fall off the needles while your project is in progress.  I also got a nipper to cut my yarn and a little case to put my stitch markers in and a needle gauge and a sheep progress keeper.  These I purchased on Etsy from Twisted Yarn and Fiber Co.  The picture on the right are some wonderful progress keepers from Yarn Candy Studio.  I bought a row counter progress keeper (very nice for when I’m doing work and knowing what row I’m on is necessary) and I bought  Harry Potter progress keepers and I love those Harry Potter progress keepers, of course I love the Harry Potter movies so maybe that is why :).  The one you can’t see very well has a hologram in it that is a picture of the patronus charm for Harry (stag’s head) and the words expecto patronus.  It’s really very cute, was sad it didn’t show up in the picture very well.

Went to my son’s today to watch him “blow out” his alpacas in prep for the shearers who came to shear the alpaca.  The shearers did all 6 alpaca in one hr.  I will have some pictures to post eventually.

May the 4th Be With You!!

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May the 4th

I couldn’t resist, love it :).

I bought some knitting accessories for myself (don’t do that very often) and I will get pictures and put up soon.  Been sick with yet another cold and laryngitis again so I haven’t felt like doing much :(. Also as soon as my back is better (yes I threw it out again) I need to skirt the fleece I have and send it off to be processed into yarn.  I’ll talk more about that when it happens 😛

Heat Advisory Shawl – Done!

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Heat Advisory Shawl

I did finish The Heat Advisory Shawl for my oldest son’s fiancee, see picture on the left,  :).  I like the way it turned out and after getting it wet and rising it has fulled a little and is really pretty.  The picture underneath is a close up of the lacey bottom.

 

Close up of lacework for Heat Advisory Shawl

I’d like to start a pair of socks now, but I will need to split the yarn so I can do two at a time to make sure they are the same length for the leg and foot :),  and first,  I need to start those fingerless mitts for the little one’s teachers school year end gifts.  I have decided on the Au Clair Fingerless Gloves, they are very cute, I will give more info on those in the next few days.   I have also started another one of those 2×2 ribbed newborn hats, great yarn and cute pattern. 🙂

Had to Cast On a New Project :)

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Newborn HatI am still working on the shawl but someone at my church asked for those of us who could knit to please make some caps for newborns and other children for the Ronald McDonald house.  I couldn’t resist and so I cast on a newborn hat.  I will be doing more of these in various sizes as the children will be various sizes :).

I don’t often knit with acrylic yarn because I prefer natural fibers, but busy moms with sick children don’t usually have the time to mess with special washing instructions for wool, or the child might be allergic to wool, so I thought at least it could look pretty.  I chose Hobby Lobby’s Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek, 4 ozs, 208 yards, I believe it’s a worsted weight which is what was called for in this pattern.  Oh my it is so soft!!  So it will be pretty and soft :).  The pattern I went with is from  5 Easy Pieces – Knit Newborn Hats (this is a free pattern on Ravelry) and is called 2×2 rib hat.  This was a very quick and easy knit and with this yarn it is very soft and squishy :).  I was very pleased :).

I’ll be working on the shawl this week, perhaps I will get it finished this week ;).  Then I will knit another hat, I think I can get two from this skein of yarn.

Bad Day Socks Done, Shawl Started and More Stash :)

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Bad Day Socks I finished my socks with The Lemonade Shop yarn Bad Day.  It’s  a beautiful yarn 438 yards, 100 gms, 75/20/5 Superwash Merino/Nylon/Stelliana, and I love it.  The pattern was a personal vanilla sock pattern  from a friend from the Fiber Pusher Podcast on Ravelry.  I still need, tho, to either go down another size needle or maybe cast on 60 instead of 64 stitches, I’ll figure it out.

These socks were fun to knit but I took way to long to get them done, my fault – I had to stop to do some Christmas knitting and then finish a blanket for a friend’s son who had asked.  Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of the blanket.  I just used the Tara Shawl pattern from Lion Brand Yarns, changing the number of cast on from 60 to 90 so that I had a shorter wider end project instead of the longer shawl shape.  It’s a very easy mindless knit that takes 3 skeins of Homespun yarn from Lion Brand Yarns.

I have started a shawl for comfort for my oldest son’s fiancee, who lost her mother Start of Heat Advisory Shawlrecently.  I chose the Heat Advisory Shawl by Maura Clement  because it looked beautiful and didn’t look like it would take a year to knit :).  This is a paid pattern.  I thought I would use the new yarn that I mentioned in my previous post, but it is a sock weight and the pattern calls for a dk weight, so I went stash diving.  Fortunately a friend from my church was preparing for a move and de-stashed her yarn to me, woot woot, I had beautiful dk weight yarn I could use :).   You can see the yarn in the picture, it is called Ardilla Bouquet and is from Spain.  It is 69% acrilic/21% wool/10% mohair  50 g, 105 m.  I have started the shawl, and it seems very easy and at this point is an enjoyable to knit.  The yarn, like most mohair, sheds and is fuzzy, but I think it will be a beautiful shawl. 🙂  I have 10 skeins of this yarn and have wound off into balls, 2 skeins to start with, I’m sure it will take about 3 or 4 skeins.

I’m comfortable at this time with just one project going.  I am not one of those knitters who have tons of projects going at the same time.  I might have 2 or 3 projects at the same time but any more than that is stressful to me.  I intend to do this shawl pattern again after finishing this project, for a gift for a little one’s teacher for the end of the year.  She has had both him and his sister and has been a wonderful teacher.  I’m sure pleasant surprises after a year of teaching little ones is nice ;).  For his sister’s teacher I’m thinking of  pretty pair fingerless mitts, those are always nice to have in our winter months :).   *UPDATE* Ran out of time and did fingerless mitts for both teachers.

We have had an absolutely gorgeous Feb this year.  Yesterday we had a record high of 67.  More like our April temps, tho we have had blizzards in April too, lol.  The temps are going back down into the 40’s today and colder than that on Friday and beyond, but I certainly enjoyed the brief warmer weather and it gave me an emotional pick me up from the drudgery of winter :).