yarn

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.

Knitting Accountability

/ LDSVenus / 5 Comments

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?

May the 4th Be with You

/ LDSVenus / 6 Comments

I didn’t get my Easter msg up or my General Conference msg up this year, both which are important to me and I almost didn’t get my May the 4th Be with You msg up, which is not as important but fun. Winter has been a little harder this year, maybe be cause it lacked a lot of sun (I need the sunshine) and this spring has been hard because it has been very overcast and rainy and more cooler off and on, and I was so ready for the warm sunny spring weather. Sigh, then I remembered April showers bring May flowers, and though oh my gosh go away LOL. Still a lot of over cast days (wow I could never live in Washington or Oregon by the coast), but it is warming up, this week is 50’s and 60’s and next week is into the 80’s sheesh.

I am trying to work on the hat for my friend, I had to try to figure out where she had left off (and I hadn’t been in the right head space to really concentrate to do that during the winter) and realized the stitch count wasn’t right and saw a couple of dropped stitches, so I had to tink back (for my non knitting friends tink is undoing the knitting one stitch at a time, oh so time consuming, tink is knit backwards – word and do wise, lol) 4 rows in the round and now I need to count the stitch count to make sure I tinked back enough to continue on. And oh yeah, with the lower light levels with all the over cast days and lower light level in my apt during the night I was having a hard time seeing the stitches because it’s knit in fingering in a dark brown yarn LOL. Anyway I can get out on my balcony now and have better lighting :).

Yeah this is more like a little rant, but hopefully things will appear on my blog now, it’s been over a month and I usually post at least one thing a month. Hope everyone is doing well and that Spring is bringing those May flowers, I have seen the robins so it’s really spring to me :).

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

/ LDSVenus / 6 Comments

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!