Knitting

Changing Staircases Shawl and Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarf Done!

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I was up late last night blocking my Changing Staircases Shawl.  Was very fun to knit, I will definitely knit it again!  The pattern is easy, I just have one word of warning, pay attention to the beginning of the last row of each section so you don’t have to tink back to do the part you forgot :P.  The link gives info on the pattern and yarn I used.  I can hardly wait until Christmas to give this gift!

I also finished the Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarf I was knitting with my friend Kari (info for my yarn and needles in link.)  She was killed in a one car accident last October, and I decided to finish mine in her memory.  It’s an easy pattern, tho since I can’t remember where I got it and I can’t find it online, I can not share it.  There are many similar patterns out there that you can search.

Now I can start the Little Lace Daisy Scarf (one of my own patterns) from the Teal merino that I hand spun.  Been a nice vacation, one more week then back to work :P.

Shawl Update

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The Changing Staircases shawl doesn’t look like much yet, but then it’s not blocked and you can’t really see all the points along the right edge (as you are looking at it.)  They will be much more defined and the lace sections will be more open after blocking.  Blocking should also make the shawl a bit larger.  I don’t think I’m quite 2/3’s done, but I’m making progress.  This is an easy pattern and it’s an enjoyable knit.   I almost forgot, the 2nd picture is a progress keeper I won on Raverly last year or the year before, the creator has a shop on Etsy called the Victorian Studio Shop and she has lots of wonderful stitch markers and progress keepers, her polymer clay crafting is amazing.  This is a Chocolate Frog (Harry Potter reference) and is helping me keep track of my rows :).  Yeah, he’s not real chocolate, or he wouldn’t be there anymore helping me keep track of my rows :P.

I decided I might need a little more yarn for the scarf I’m making for my friend, so I am spinning about 60 more grams of roving.   I was worried about running out of yarn and having a scarf that was shorter than I wanted.  Because I probably will not have a perfect match when I dye it to match the skein I have already spun, I didn’t start the scarf yet so I can put the different shade on the ends and blend it in as I knit.  Since it’s a dark teal I’m hoping the shades won’t be terribly different, but plans in my head don’t always translate out the same when I do them, however, it’s always worth a try :).  Trying is how we learn ;).

It’s a beautiful day, think I will go outside on my balcony and spin for a bit. 🙂

Spinning on the Kromski Polonaise and a New Project.

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With the help of the Kromski Raverly group and a local friend, I was able to get the Polonaise configured to be a scotch tension drive, thankfully it comes with both options :).  The pictures do not do it justice, it is a dark mahogany color but looks like a walnut color in the pictures.  It is portrayed a little better in the picture of the singles I am spinning tho’ it still does not show the dark mahogany color as it is, it is really beautiful.  It spins like a dream and I am enjoying spinning on it immensely.  The fiber is some super wash merino that I had dyed some time back when I spun a skein for a friend.  I am spinning this skein to make a scarf or cowl (we need those here in the winter :P) for Marge’s sister (also a friend).  Something for her to think about her sister when she wears it.

Changing Staircases  I also cast on a new project.  Was going to make this last year for Christmas for a family member but I fell and broke my hand so that didn’t happen.  Not taking any chances this year, if I procrastinate, “Murphy” will come to visit again and he is not allowed in my home :P.  This is the Changing Staircases shawl by Trysten Molina of Dragon Hoard Designs.  I am using Stroll Tweed Sock Labs yarn by Knit Picks in the Teal Tweed colorway.  It’s really pretty and has a generous 462 yards.  Because I am a loose knitter I am using a size 4 instead of a size 5 circular needle.  Tho’ it looks difficult, this pattern is very easy and easily memorized :).  Not sure if you can see it very clearly but I am using a beautiful bronze heart progress keeper made by Stephanie of the Knitting Samurai podcast, from her Adore Knits Etsy shop.

I am loving Spring but could do without all the rain, but at least it’s not snow :P.

 

Chemo Cap Finished – Minus the Curls

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I decided that the yarn was way to fuzzy for crocheting the curls because you couldn’t really see where the stitches were.  The red doesn’t show through as much as I had hoped, but she loved it anyway.  I just can’t stress enough how soft these yarns are together.

It’s rainy and gloomy here for the rest of the week, ugh.  Hope you all have a nice day where ever you are.

Chemo Cap with Curls in Progress

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Chemo Cap with Curls

I did make some progress on the Chemo Cap and I should be finished with it today.  My plan is to give it to her tomorrow.  I know the chemo is taking a toll on her energy and how well she feels, so if she doesn’t feel up to coming to Church tomorrow, I will take it to her.

The red didn’t poke through quite enough, the black is a bit longer and covers the red up a lot, but some of it pokes through here and there.  Not quite what I had imagined, but still very soft and should go with her shawl.  I’m almost to the 5 1/2 inches it calls for before starting the crown, but I am debating making it a couple of inches longer so the bottom will fold up like a cuff similar to the picture, so unless the crown takes more rows than I think it does, I will need to add a couple of inches before I start the crown.  If all else fails read the instructions, so I think I will go do that and make a decision.  I was told I should make the hat small because the hair loss makes your head smaller, but I’m wondering if this is going to be large enough.  If not I will make her another one, and will have gained some knowledge about how large a chemo hat needs to be.  It’s all about learning right?

Starting Another Chemo Hat

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Chemo Cap with Curls

I did get the pattern from the Designer, she was nice enough to put it back up on Raverly.  It’s called Chemo Cap in Splash & Merino 5 there is a link on the raverly page to an archive with the pattern.  I plan on doing the hat including the curls in the black with red (in the same kind of yarn I used in my last chemo hat) to match my friends shawl.  I hope it turns out like the picture in my head :P.  Both yarns, Yarn Bee Sunggle Up in the black and Yarn Bee Cloud 9 in the garnet, are very soft and when putting them together they are extremely soft, makes you want to pet all the fiber off of it :D.

I’ll post a picture after I get it started or finished, which ever I can fit in first :P.

A one sentence rant today.  We are not Easter Worshipers, we are Christians, we celebrate Easter, we worship our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dish Cloth and Free Cycle Haul :)

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I needed something nice but simple for a friend’s birthday and also a pallet cleanser (yeah, pun intended :P) so I made this pretty dishcloth called Eloomanator’s Diagonal Knit Dishcloth which is a free pattern on Raverly.  I just knit it in the bits and pieces of time I found this week.  It was a nice knit.  I used Cream n Sugar cotton yarn (very nice for dishcloths even tho the colors do fade quickly,  it won’t matter with this one because it’s white :P).  I used a size 6 circular needle but didn’t didn’t knit in the round, circulars are just my needles of choice.  You probably noticed I missed a yarn over on the side (that is what happens when you get distracted and have to put down and pick up a project frequently), but I don’t think it detracts too much, I know she won’t mind, it’s just for her dishes.

I get emails from the Free Cycle Organization.  It is an organization where people can offer unwanted but useful things they want to give away.  If it doesn’t work they always say so in the listing.  If you are interested in it you can see if they have a local one in your area.  I saw a listing for a large amount of free knitting patterns and some misc patterns.  Things go fast at Free Cycle so I responded not expecting to be the first one to claim it,  but I was!!!  Lots of knitting magazines etc in a small plastic tub.  Was a nice haul :).  I don’t respond to very many of the ads, but it’s interesting what people give away, most are nice things still in working shape, but like I said, you have to be quick :P.

2 FO’s and New Needles

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Finished the baby socks.  As you can see they are definitely not matchy matchy ;P, but close enough that you can tell they are a set.  I used Knit Picks Options double pointed needles size 0, and the yarn was Premier Wool-Free Sock yarn in the Vegas Lights colorway.  They were well loved.   Anyone know if they make baby sock blockers?

I bought some yarn for a Chemo hat for a friend who is dealing with breast cancer.  I went to Hobby Lobby and chose Yarn Bee Snuggle Up in the silver colorway and Yarn Bee Cloud 9 in the cream colorway, Hobby Lobby had a sale on their yarn and I like their yarn :).  They are both soft yarns and together they are extremely soft.  There is another hat pattern I want to knit and the designer said she will put it back up on Ravelry.  I will post more about it when it’s up.  Raverly is such a wonderful knitting community where we all share our love of knitting, crocheting, spinning and other fibery creativeness.  This pattern I used is a Lion Brand Yarn free pattern called Fun-Fur – Mircospun Knit Chemo Cap.  I used a size 10 bamboo 16″circular needle and a set of size 10 double pointed needles when I got to the crown.

Flexi Flips

 

I bit the bullet and bought a set of bamboo Addi Flexi-Flips size 0’s to knit socks with and they came in the mail today (my local yarn shop didn’t carry them.)  Altho’ I enjoy knitting the socks, I hate the using the regular double pointed needles and I never learned to knit using the magic loop method.  These are kinda like a combination of those methods and I thought I would give it a try.  They are a bit pricey at $32 dollars a set.  There are 3 needles in the set with a flexible cord that bends so that you can knit small radius round items items like socks. 🙂  Hopefully I will enjoy this method much better.

Spinning Wheel Acquisition

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A friend of mine passed away a couple of months ago and her husband said she had asked that I be given her spinning wheel and all her fiber.  I wasn’t sure what kind of wheel it was and when I received it today I had to put some of it back together, but it is a Kromski Polonaise.   It’s a beautiful Mahogany finished wheel and will look much nicer when I get it cleaned up from all the dust that has taken up residence on it,  I honestly don’t know that she ever spun on it but she loved fibery things.  I will figure out more about it and add it to my wheel collection and spin on it.  This one appears to be able to be used as a double band drive or a scotch tension.  There was a number (wheel number?) date and signature on the bottom, will have to investigate that.   The band was not on the wheel so I will try to figure out making it work as a scotch tension, but I can say the wheel moves very freely, I have a feeling this will be a really nice wheel to spin on.  Hehe , I think my Rick Reeves wheel is a little jealous, you can see it in the back ground doing a photo bomb :).

I did start the 2nd baby sock.  Starting little socks is not my favorite thing to do because it is easy to twist when joining in the round with so few stitches on double pointed needles so I take extra time and care when starting them, hate frogging (for my non knitting friends, frogging is ripping it out, think ribbit, ribbit to rippit rippit :P).  The rest should be much more relaxing to knit ;).  Hoping to have it finished by Friday.  🙂

HFO!

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2nd Pair Baby Socks HFO Ok, I finished the first sock in the new yarn.  Still larger than I hoped for but a little smaller than the last one.  I got all the colors in the one sock lol, but the color changes are short so it all works out, and looks like I won’t have to do too much yarn management to start the 2nd sock in about the same place.   I did a kitchner toe on this one instead of just pulling the stitches together as per the pattern, because I didn’t like the original toe.  This one looks so much nicer and rounded :).

Looks a little weird to have all the reds, oranges, pinks and yellow for them to have thrown in a green – looks a little out of place to me, but they didn’t ask me :P.   I will start on the 2nd sock, probably tomorrow, too tired tonight to deal with casting on tiny socks on tiny double pointed needles and making sure I didn’t twist anything.  They might not end up being matchy matchy, but I think they will be close enough.