Author: Sue

Before I get on to today’s topic, there are a couple of loops I need to close.  You see, I recently went back and re-read all my previous posts!

First, last time I talked about my new slippers.  I also mentioned slippers back in March 2010 – should I darn the hole or make new ones?  Well, to clarify, yes, I darned the green ones back then and they made it another nine months.  Last month the time had finally come to make the new ones which I am happily wearing right now.

Next, I’ve shared several photos of gorgeous yarns I’ve bought and I realized I’ve not followed up with things I’ve made.  There’s a reason – most are still safely sitting on the shelf waiting for me to do something with them!  I have gone back to the photo of the yarns I purchased over the holidays and promise I will post updates on everything made from those!

So what about ripping?  Well, coming out of this week’s ice storm, I thought it was finally time to make myself a pair of Bella’s Mittens.  This pattern is based on the mittens the character Bella wore in the Twilight movies (at least that’s what the description says).  I made a pair last fall for the fundraising project at the Geocaching Fall Picnic and I’ve wanted a pair ever since.

I chose the green Saphira yarn I got at the after Christmas sale and dove right in.  After a few rows I decided that a single strand wasn’t going to make a thick enough fabric and ripped it out to begin again.  Much better!  These are really thick and should be very wind-proof.

Breezed through the first mitten.  The only change I made was to go up one needle size for the hand.  When I tried on the other pair I made I thought the hand was just a tad short, my middle finger was right up against the tip of the mitten.  By going up a needle size the stitches became just a pinch bigger and it provided enough wiggle room without having to change the pattern.  In most patterns, I’d just have added a row or two but due to the cabling it would have thrown the pattern off.

Started the second mitten and was rolling right along when I noticed something. Because this is a variegated yarn, the two strands I held together for the first mitten were rarely the same color giving an overall tweedy appearance.  On this mitt the colors were running concurrently so the bottom was very dark and shading lighter as I went up.  I kept going but it was just bugging me.  Well, I finally made the call.  I wasn’t going to be happy with the finished product so 3/4 of the way through, I tore the whole thing out!

Rewound some of the yarn and was much more strategic on how the two strands were held together and begin again.  It’s not that I want the two to be in any way identical but there was just too much difference in shading for my taste.  Just finished them and the look much better!

On the keeping warm front, I’ve made two Gaptastic Cowls.  I mentioned earlier that cowls are hot right now and this pattern was quite easy.  The first one was out of the Saphira in grey I got at the after Christmas sale.  I was originally going to use it for the soles of the new slippers but I missed the word superwash on the label – it won’t felt!  So, I thought I’d substitute it in for this pattern.  Now that I’ve done my mittens in this yarn, I think I had the same problem with the cowl – the yarn’s just a bit too fine, I should have doubled it here, too.  So while I like it, I knew I could do better.  Went out and bought the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick it called for and made another in cream.

Finally, I had one ball of Cashmerino I got on clearance down in Asheville at Yarn Paradise and had no idea what to do with it.  The book Cowl Girls (which was ironically purchased at the same shop) came to the rescue!  The ‘Need for Tweed’ pattern is a three tiered cowl and the top part was made out of just this yarn!  Four repeats of the pattern and I had a super-cute neck warmer that will look great with my office coat.  I find it interesting that I really wouldn’t have looked twice at the complete pattern but this one section suited my needs perfectly!

What’s next?  Bruce wants a pair of fingerless mittens and I found a perfect pattern from the 1940s!  But, that story is for next time . . .

I was nosing around Ravelry (the online site for knitters) last week and ran across the group 52in52. Essentially it’s a group for knitters who pledge to make 52 items in a year. Yikes! It’s interesting to see photos of all of the things flying off of people’s needles but I sure don’t want or need that type of pressure!

Another group that I think is much more realistic is one I actually learned about from the Lion Brand Studio Store’s Twitter Feed – the stashbustarmy. This Ravelry group is dedicated to people who are committed to using the yarn they already own rather than going out and buy even more yarn for projects. This is much more my speed!

I took this idea to heart when I wore a hole through the slippers I made myself two years ago.

I grabbed a leftover skein of Lanaloft from Bruce’s slippers for the inner soles (the color is ok but just not my preference), grey Cascade 220 that I used to make wings for the Mochimochi bats and the yellow Cascade 220 that I’d used small bits of on several projects.  They knitted up quickly but I did run out of the yellow about 3 rows shy of being done with the second slipper.  No problem – I just switched to the grey early and now I’ll always be able to tell the right from the left!

Tossed them into the washing machine with the towel load earlier today and they’ve felted pretty well.  They’re in the dryer as I type so the fabric will firm up even more and soon my toes will be warm again when I putter around the house!

Since Bruce has broken his New Year’s Resolution about publishing on time, it leaves this space open for me to to talk yarn!

Yes, I’ve gone a bit bonkers.  In the past week I’ve been in five different yarn shops – four in Asheville, NC and one here in Indy that was having a year-end sale!  This doesn’t include the couple of things I recently ordered online and the things I got at the Stitches & Scones Sock Retreat in December.

The reason I was in so many yarn shops in Asheville was I discovered a brochure in our hotel lobby for the Fabric Fiber Bead Trail – uh oh!  Actually it’s a wonderful reference and introduced me to a couple of new places I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.  It’s sitting right here on my desk and will get put away for our next trip to the area!

Spent some time yesterday photographing and organizing all of this new stash and figuring out what I’ll be making in 2011 so I thought I’d share.

Of course there are socks.  I finally finished Bruce’s ‘Back to School’ socks over the holidays and am getting ready to cast on the next pair.  You can almost see the yarn on the left side in the photo it’s stripey in nice, muted browns.  I’m also doing a pair for myself in the red and white sparkly yarn at the back – figure they can do dual duty for Christmas and Valentine’s Day!

Cowls are a hot fashion trend this season so I’m doing one out of the sky blue I got (on sale) at Yarn Paradise in Asheville and another out of a really chunky variegated black/grey yarn by Tahki.  Those two should go with about everything.

I’m also going to finally do a pair of Bella’s mittens for myself (you Twilight fans should get the reference) I’m debating between the lime green and the charcoal – we’ll see what happens.

The list goes on, but I’ll leave it there for now.  Watch for progress updates later on. Time to knit!

Last weekend I went down to the Johnson County Fairgrounds to the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival.  Saw many wonderful fibers but still left with my usual issue – I didn’t have specific projects in mind so I only came home with a single skein of hand painted yarn.  In actuality it’s a good thing because I really don’t need any more yarn.

Also, I’ve resisted learning to spin so was able to pass by all of the spinning wheels, drop spindles, fleeces and rovings without a second glance.  Well, that’s not quite accurate – I find the process fascinating and enjoy watching but have decided there’s still a lot to master with knitting.  Maybe someday, but certainly not now.

There were animals, too – some adorable lambs and very hot looking long-haired bunnies.  Always cute to pause and look.

One reason I went down was work-related.  The Northside Knitting Guild was doing a fundraiser on our behalf.  They had many cool things in their booth – their members are so talented.  I bought a bag recycled from a cashmere sweater – very clever!

The booth I found most interesting though was a woodworker who makes crochet hooks, knitting needles, and accessories.  I picked up some handmade buttons, a darning egg and a lucet.

What is a lucet you ask?  It’s the wishbone shaped thingie in the photo below.  They have been used for centuries to make cording.  I learned how to do it in a class ages ago . . . now where’s that project I never finished?

In other news, I finished the Super Scarf for the 2012 Super Bowl project earlier today.  It always feels good to get something done!

Here are a couple of photos of the final steps:

It’s done! After a couple of months, I’ve finished my first big lace project – the Mystery Shawl project through Stitches and Scones! In my last post, I previewed the yarn I used – Happy Feet Sock Yarn in red! Knowing I wear a lot of black, I thought red was an appropriate choice.

It was a mystery because every week or so, a clue was posted to the user group.  And, in most clues there was a choice of two different patterns so it was almost a ‘choose your own adventure!’   I was on track for about the first clue and a half but then we went away for Spring Break and got behind.  Actually this turned out to be a good thing as I realized that I wanted to increase the size of the shawl!

You see, as part of the project, the shop also held a session on blocking – something I’d not done before!  While at the class, I saw the finished size of several shawls (pre blocking – but more on that later) and decided I really wanted something larger.  So, after seeing what the magic of blocking can do, I went home and knit and knit and knit.  Because each row of the shawl added stitches, it took longer and longer to finish a row and I started to regret this decision but am really glad I stuck with it!

Fourteen extra pattern rows later it was time to do the border – another place I could choose between two different options.  I was again glad I was behind because I had been able to see both options complete on other people’s work and made the appropriate choice for my shawl.

Finally it was time to bind off and I was very lucky – after adding all the extra rows I ended up with a mere 5 yards of yarn left!

Now, about blocking:

In a nutshell, it consists of getting the project wet and pinning it out into its final size and shape to dry.  What it also does for lace is to provide stitch definition and opens up all the little holes that took so long to do!  My shawl was 21 x 48 inches at the widest points when it came off the needles.  After blocking, it’s 31 x 63 inches!

But, what you really want are photos so no more typing . . . here it is!

My LYS (Local Yarn Shop), Stitches & Scones, sent out an e-mail back in February announcing a mystery knit-along lace shawl project and, of course, I joined in. What was I thinking? I have plenty of yarn and projects – not to mention work, travel, etc. etc.  Yikes!

This is my first bigtime lace project and have to say, while not done, I’m learning lots!  So, while not the best timing, it’s probably a good thing that I took this on.  Counting and ripping out have been a big part of the process and I’m finally to the point where (knock wood) there’s been no ripping in at least 20 rows!

Right now I’m about 1/2-way done with clue 3 (of 4) with the deadline for completion being May 6.  But, not being able to leave well enough alone, I’m altering the pattern just a bit which is adding 14 more rows to the whole shawl.

This is the yarn I’m using – but you’ll need to wait until it’s done for more photos!

There’s lots more going on, too.  In fact, there are about ten things I’ve noted down that I’d like to chat about but that’s all for another day!

It’s February and we’ve got snow! Admittedly it is a few degrees warmer than it has been, but there’s still plenty of time to knit things to help us stay warm.

Bruce got his mittens a couple of weeks ago and I finally finished my “Hedgerow” socks today.  I am very pleased with how they came out.  There was one potential crisis yesterday – with just 17 rows to go (in the section where I was shaping the toe) I ran out of yarn!  Help!

Here’s how close to being done I was when I ran out:

Now what?  Went to the closet to see what I had that was the same weight of yarn and might not clash too badly and found another ball of the exact same yarn!  I had bought it quite a while ago and totally forgot that I had bought two balls!  Saved!

So, I was able to finish these off without further incident:

I look forward to trying them out in the next few days.  But, what to do next?  On the keeping warm front, my office is on the notoriously cold side of the building (which just so happens to be the notoriously warm side in the summer) so I’ve taken to wearing fingerless mitts while working at my computer.  The only pair I have is actually one of my first knitting attempts – a pair of reddish brown “Fingerless Garter Mitts” from the book One Skein by Leigh Radford.  I feel a bit like Bob Crachett whenever I put them on – just give me a green eyeshade and I’m ready to go!

Apparently, it’s time to upgrade to something a bit more elegant.

I bought some black fingering weight alpaca off the clearance rack at Stitches & Scones a couple of months ago thinking I’d use it to make a wrap or shawl but it’s perfect for the pattern I’ve selected – Alexandra Brinck’s “Linda K’s Yummy Mummy Wristwarmers.”  I’m 6 rows in and, so far, so good!